Where We Seek Comfort
by Dunkacoke
Summary: Between everything that was happening in Vale, and the upcoming Vytal tournament, everyone on teams RWBY and JNPR is more stressed than they'd like to admit. However, when Jaune and Yang turn to each other for comfort, it comes with its fair share of questions and problems. Rated M for sexuality, drugs and alcohol coming in future chapters.
1. Blondes That Go Bump In The Night

**Chapter 1: Blondes That Go Bump In The Night**

It was no use, Jaune Arc just could not get to sleep tonight. No for lack of trying, mind you, it wasn't his idea to to still be awake at this hour. Glancing at the time, Jaune could see that it was just gone 1:00. Had it been the weekend, he might not have minded so much. Or if it had been 1:00 PM and he was trying to sleep. Yes, that would be nice. However, he doubted Pyrrha would ever allow that. In any case, no matter how much he hoped differently, it was 1:00 AM on a Thursday night and Jaune was wide awake.

 _Technically it's Friday_ Jaune corrected himself. _At least I have that going for me. One more day then a nice weekend off. We haven't even been given any work to be done over the weekend yet!_ He smiled to himself, happy he had managed to find the positive in his situation. Of course, it didn't change the fact couldn't sleep. His muscles were all cramped up, and no position allowed him to escape the twangs of pain that shot into his limbs. _Well, gotta blame myself on this one. Pyrrha did tell me to stretch after training, and at this point I should know to follow her advice. Even if it means getting to dessert 15 minutes late._

Sighing, Jaune swung his legs over the edge of the bed, slowly to avoid any unnecessary pain, and felt for his slippers. Despite how comfortable it was, Jaune just couldn't sleep in his onesie anymore. Nora would burst out laughing whenever he had it on, and even Ren seems to get a slight smirk. So instead, he had done something he was very proud of; using the sewing skills he had picked up from living with 7 sisters, he had cut up the light blue onesie and turned them into a nice fluffy pair of light blue pyjama pants and _separate_ pair of bright blue rabbit slippers. He did have to have his comforts, after all.

Jaune had decided that while he was awake, he might as well do something about his sore muscles. While his first thought had been a shower, it posed the risk of waking his teammates, not something he wanted to do only 7 hours before classes start. Instead, he decided on a warm glass of milk and cookies. He may have been hanging around Ruby too much.

 _Still, at least it should help my muscles. Doesn't chocolate always help?_ Jaune made his way to the door, treading carefully for the benefit of both his team and his muscles. _Anyways, we have Professor Port's class tomorrow morning. I can always catch up on sleep then._ Jaune reached the door, slowly opening it and slipping through, shooting one last glance at his team. Pyrrha was sleeping soundly, and would be nicely rested for tomorrow's classes. He then shifted his eyes over the other partnership of JNPR. To his not-so-much surprise, Nora had somehow snuck herself into bed with Ren- who was either oblivious to the fact or at least impartial, given he was still sound asleep.

 _I'll leave them be for now. Bring it up with Nora tomorrow._ He glanced at the huge smile the erratic girl had plastered to her face. Or _maybe I'll let it slide._

Jaune was so busy looking at his favorite not _together-together_ pair, he didn't notice the other presence also sneaking into the hallway. At least, not until he backed into said presence, barely holding in his scream of surprise.

* * *

While Jaune was aching with sore muscles, through a door, a hallway and another door, another blonde was also laying awake. Yang Xiao Long stared at the ceiling, thinking. Unlike most people believed, being the jokester of the group was hard work. Of course Ruby was always upbeat, but expending the energy to keep the _ever-optimistic_ Blake and _cheerful_ Weiss smiling throughout the day was exhausting. Not that Yang would ever complain, it was both a role she was born for and molded by, not to mention it was the only role that allowed her to make the awesome puns she knew everyone secretly loved.

However, it did beg the question; why she was awake at 1 o'clock if her job was so tiring? The answer was simple; it's when she got to be alone with her thoughts. While Blake could always slip away, and no one would dare disturb Weiss if she wanted alone time, Yang got less time than she wanted to herself. Tonight, she was up late thinking once again about the most vague yet important question; _Why?_

Although the breach had happened over a month ago, Yang could not get Ooblecks words out of her head. _What did I become a hunter? Surely I didn't commit to this life just for thrills, did I? There are other jobs that provide that, and I'm surely not that shallow._ Realizing the answers that evaded her for the better part of a month weren't going to magically appear, Yang decided a walk would be the best course of action.

As she carefully removed herself from the top bunk, careful to not make a noise lest a certain pair of sensitive feline ears were to hear her at this ungodly hour, she glanced at her team. _They're all so motivated_ Yang thought to herself, a smile gracing her lips _What would I do without them?_

Stepping out into the hall, Yang was met with a scene that she did not expect. Jaune stood there, about 2 meters away, staring through his door, presumably at his sleeping team. Even from behind, Yang could tell he was smiling, just by the way he held himself.

 _Now there's a guy who knows why he's here._ Yang's thoughts immediately going to the cause of her sleeplessness. _All he wants to do is be strong enough to defend others, and he hasn't stopped trying since he got here. Not to mention how much he cares for his team, I mean just look at him now._ Yang felt a twinge of guilt. Jaune had gone through so much to get here; faking transcripts, becoming a team leader, fighting through bullying. At no point had he stopped trying, stopped fighting for his goal. Contrasted to her, it was so noble.

The more Yang thought about it, the more she wondered if she actually deserved her spot at Beacon. While most people wanted to become a Huntsman, Yang had just followed the easiest path. Of course, Yang had earned her spot here, a skilled fighter with the best of them and earning surprisingly good marks. But since arriving, how much effort had she put in? She hadn't committed to bettering herself to save others, like Ruby or Jaune. She didn't try hard in classes to learn, like Weiss or Ren. _All I'm doing is taking a spot away from someone with a more noble goal. Someone who actually wants to make the world better._

Lost in her thoughts, Yang barely noticed as Jaune closed the door, not until he backed up right into her at least.

* * *

As Jaune crashed to the floor, it was all he could do to not let out a shout as pain shot through his sore muscles due to the abrupt movement. Once he had taken enough time to figure out what had just happened, Jaune looked up to see who else might be up and about at his time of night.

"You know, I get that I'm hot and all, but that doesn't excuse you from throwing yourself at my feet like this."

A groan escaped Jaune's mouth as a light blush went up to his cheeks. Not that he wasn't happy it was Yang instead of a stranger, or worse, a teacher, or _worser,_ a member of team CRDL. However, he wasn't sure if he could take jokes and torment at this time. "And why exactly are you awake right now Yang?" he asked while receiving a hand up.

"Couldn't sleep, decided to go for a walk." All signs of Yang's inner dispute had disappeared when Jaune had fallen over. "However, I didn't take you for a night owl, Vomit-Boy."

Jaune had long given up on ridding himself of that nickname. "Too sore. With the Vytal tournament so close, Pyrrha's been drilling me harder and more often."

"You know, usually it's the guy that drills the girl," was her response, given along with a smirk. As expected, it took Jaune a second or two to figure out what she said.

"N-No no no, Yang, not like that!" A furious blush formed on Jaune's face, while Yang burst into quiet laughter. She couldn't help it, Jaune just made it so easy. Not to mention he gave arguably the best response to her innuendos. "I just want to go get something from the caf."

"I'll join you then, it'll stop you getting scared by the dark, or falling for any other women."

The two set off, Yang in a better mood now that she had got some laughs. Jaune just walked in silence, staring at his feet. Out of the 4 lines Yang has said so far, 3 of them had been for the purpose of teasing him, and Jaune didn't feel the need to make her job any easier.

"You know, if you're gonna be alone with me tonight, it will make it a lot easier if you talk." So much for that plan. Turns out Yang can tease you either way.

"Sorry Yang, just all tired and sore from earlier." He glanced over at her, only to see a huge smirk plastered on Yang's face. Jaune just sighed. She didn't even need to make the comment for him to get innuendo passing through her head at what he had just said. Deciding it was best to ignore, he chose to continue to stare straight downwards.

"C'mon Jauney, if you are gonna talk to me, at least look at me. I'm up here." His eyes moved to follow her arm, not quite processing that she was pointing at (and so he was staring at) her chest. As realization dawned on his face, Jaune turned away as quick as he could, blushing once again.

As much fun as she was having, Yang decided it was time to stop, at least for now. There was, after all, only so much teasing she could do to Jaune before he broke. "Alright alright, I'm done for now," she assured him, receiving a skeptical glance in return. They walked in silence for a bit longer, before pushing through the doors that opened into the large cafeteria. Jaune paused for a second, then headed towards the kitchen, which would provide him with what he came for. In the meantime, Yang's thoughts had led back to the cause of her late-night wanderings.

 _Even at 1 AM, Jaune knows what he's doing, has a goal in mind._ While it might not have been fair for Yang to compare the hunt for a midnight snack to one's aim in life, it certainly highlighted the problem in her mind. "Hey Jaune," Yang quickened her pace to catch up "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Uh.. ya, go ahead." Jaune was taken aback by the serious tone of her voice. He had no qualms with helping her out, but it wasn't exactly like he and Yang were close. In fact, when he thought about it, as much as team RWBY and JNPR hung out together, the only close friendship between the two seemed to be his and Ruby's.

"How are you always so motivated? I get that you want to get better, but it just never seems that you ever stop."

Now Jaune was definitely taken aback. He'd never pegged Yang as one to have hidden problems. She was always so happy, joking and taunting everyone else. "I just… I don't want to be weak anymore. At home, I was weak. I came here, and I was weak. If I stop, I might just be weak again. And if I'm weak, I can't be a huntsman. I couldn't save people." He reached into the fridge to grab out some milk. "I guess… I just can't afford to stop."

Yang nodded, but didn't look any less troubled. "I don't know what motivates me. I just kinda, do it. I don't really try in classes, I don't have some overarching goal." While some might have thought that saying she didn't try was some kind of brag, Jaune realized what she meant. Despite all she was, all she naturally had, he seemed to have the one thing she was missing. "Jaune, you're a good leader, and despite the fact I'm not on your team, why do you think I've taken this path? I just.. can't figure it out myself."

Jaune frowned at the sad look that had crossed the always happy face of Yang Xiao Long. Placing the cup of milk he poured himself in the microwave to warm, he started rummaging around for any cookies that might contain chocolate. "Well, you seem like a great older sister. Maybe you wanted to make the world safe for those closest to you?"

Yang looked up "I mean yeah, but I already knew Ruby was going to become a hunter. Both my pa- My dad's a hunter. They don't need me to make the world safe."

"Just because they can doesn't mean you want them to have to fight." The microwave beeped behind Jaune as he kept searching. "Or maybe you're doing it for yourself." Jaune's eyes lit up as he saw his target: a box of double chocolate chip cookies. "Maybe you just want to make the world a place you can be happy, where you can relax. And you know what? That's perfectly fine." He turned just in time to see the last of his milk quickly vanishing from his glass and down Yang's throat. "Or maybe you're just here to make my life a bit more difficult." Jaune sighed and opened the fridge up again.

Yang let out a quick laugh at his last comment. However, his words seem to have had the intended effect, and Yang seemed a lot more at ease. "Thanks Jaune." She opened the cookie box and started snacking."I know we might not be very close, but you're a good friend. To all of us."

Jaune seemed to grumble something about milk, but quickly turned to flash Yang a light smile. "I'm glad, I try to be." He started heating up his new glass of milk. "However, I might not be the best friend if there are no cookies left for me."

"And what do you think you can do if there aren't any left, big guy?"

"Well, someone might let slip to Ruby that her sister went out for a late snack and didn't even bother to save any double chocolate chip cookies for her."

Yang let out an exaggerated gasp "How fiendish!" They shared a laugh as Jaune started helping himself to the cookies. "However, I doubt you would. I think you'd find that when I want to be, I can be quite… persuasive." Yang sauntered over to Jaune, her hips saying quite provocatively, even in pyjamas. She leaned in closer and whispered "And I always like to get my way."

Jaune backed up as quickly as he could, blushing for what seemed like the 100th time that night. At this, Yang couldn't help it and let out a hearty laugh. "C'mon Jauney, finish up your drink and let's start heading back. It's already gone 1:30." This caught Jaunes attention,his eyes widened as he gulped the rest of milk down in one and stowed the cookies away.

"Crap, our first class is at 8 tomorrow! I don't function on this amount of sleep!" Jaune complained, rushing out the door and towards his room.

Eventually, he slowed down and waited for Yang to catch up, but not without a bit of panicked looks and foot-tapping. "Relax," Yang grinned "Remember, we have yet to be given any homework to be done over the weekend. If you want, you can come find me and we'll sleep together all day Saturday~." Boy was Yang enjoying making Jaune uncomfortable.

"Maybe this is why we don't hang out just the two of us." Jaune retorted "I have no one else around to also get teased."

"Wait, are you saying you don't like this side of me Jauney?" Yang asked sweetly, turning to face him as they reached their dorms. "You could hurt a lady speaking like that."

Between the time (now closer to 2 o'clock) and the glass of warm milk, Jaune was too tired to even respond to her fake flirting. "Night Yang. See you tomorrow." And with that, Jaune went into his room, landed on his bed, and fell straight to sleep, his aching muscles long forgotten after the late night snack and chat with Yang.

Yang too entered her room and climbed up to her bunk, but was not greeted by sleep nearly as quickly. Instead, she thought about what Jaune had told her. " _Maybe you just want to make the world a place you can be happy, where you can relax. And you know what? That's perfectly fine."_ She smiled. _After all, whats wrong with making the world a better place for myself? I do have to live here after all._ And with that, Yang finally out her thoughts to rest, settling down for a shorter than desirable sleep.

* * *

 **This will be a long conclusion so for a TL;DR:I am very new and will accept help and advice in anyway you wish to provide it, and also I don't plan ahead.**

 **What? You made it to the bottom? Well thanks for reading my story! Unless you skipped down here, in that case go read the rest since I didn't write it just for me! I'll give a bit more info down here for those interested.**

 **Currently, I'm rating this T and under Humor/Romance. It's a JaunexYang story since for some reason I love the idea of the pair. Depending on how the story does, I might move it into M if needed (but that doesn't mean get your hopes up for lemons your animals). I might also have to remove the Humor tag if depending on how this goes, but currently I doubt that.**

 **For the direction the story goes, I don't plan on making it too serious/dark, and want it to be a more lighthearted, happy story for your enjoyment. But as I mentioned, I am open to any suggestions.**

 **As you might guess from my uncertainty, I haven't mapped out this story very far. I have a rough idea for the next ~3 chapters give or take, but nothing past that. As such, I would love to here lots of feedback from you guys! Since this is literally my first story written just for fun, I am very open on how to improve, both pure writing and the story itself.**

 **Speaking of feedback, let me know if any character starts being too OoC. Obviously I have a slightly different take on the characters, and they will be slightly different if the story needs, but if it's too different please point it out! Please note Yang is making more innuendoes since I find them much easier write then puns (Don't shoot! I'm lazy), not to mention its a T (maybe turning M) story so I find them fine to include.**

 **Finally, I am a very sporadic person, so I can't say I'll keep to a regular update schedule, or even finish the story( Don't worry! I want to, and I don't think it will very long anyways.) Since I am very focused on RWBY right now and have a good amount of free time, I expect to get the next 3 chapters out well within the month, but after that I can't guarantee.**

 **Finally, I am only 1 man. As such, if any of the more experienced writers here. would want to proofread my chapters before they go up, or maybe even help me plan out certain scenes/ direction for story, let me know! Obviously, don't feel a need to if you can't, but I am always open to help.**

 **If this story really picks up I will probably do a much bigger update in about 2-3 chapters, going into some more details and requesting even more feedback.**

 **Looking forwards to all the feedback, and see ya soon with a new chapter!**

 **Finally, for those of you who might browse other websites that I frequent, remember, OP is a bundle of sticks!**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	2. Time for a Mix-Up

**Chapter 2: Time for a Mix-Up**

"No easy feat for...zzzz… and then I jumped on the beast...ZZzzzzzz… after several hours….ZZZZZZzzzzzz…. finally emerged victorious!" Jaune phased in and out of consciousness as Professor Port regaled his class with yet another one of his tales. Just as he'd promised himself, Jaune was attempting to catch up on the lost sleep of last night. Besides, any important detail he could get from the others, right?

As he sat up and looked around, Jaune realized that it might not be that simple. Nora was as clocked out as he had just been, drooling on the paper that was supposed to house her notes.. Blake had turned her attention to the book in front of her, the title of which she kept completely hidden from view. Every now and then the faunus shot an annoyed glance at Yang, her partner who'd happened to pass out on the faunus' shoulder. At least that one wasn't surprising, given how little sleep Yang had got as well. Next to them both, Ruby just doodling away, probably just as unaware as any of the others. Only Ren, Pyrrha and Weiss still made any attempt at following the rambling professors tale, and even they looked strained by the effort.

Giving Pyrrha's arm a quick poke, he leaned in and whispered to her. "What'd I miss this time?"

"Deathstalker, search and destroy mission, Port was a big hero." Realizing it wasn't really anything new, Jaune was about to lower his head again, but the professors next words fixed that.

"I think that's enough talk for today, let's instead discuss some practical application." More than just Jaune sat up at this. Watching their teammates kill Grimm was the only reason most people didn't just give up on life upon entering the classroom. "However, as you might guess, you can't do a search and destroy within a classroom. I daresay tracking the beast would be a bit too easy. Instead, I ask all team leaders and their partners line up here in the front."

There was a fair bit of confusion at this. Friends murmured to each other, trying to guess what this surprise may be. Jaune followed Ruby and Weiss as the pair made their way down to the front, Pyrrha close behind.

Once everyone was lined up, Port pulled out a large bowl continued. "Now here is the name of every student _not_ currently at the front of the class. Each team leader and their partner will pick a name, assigning them a random partner.

Now Jaune might not be smart, but he figured out a problem pretty quickly. _This means it's impossible Pyrrha and I get partnered!_ A glance at the expression of the redhead next to him revealed she had come the the same conclusion.

"Now the more observant among you might have figured out none of you can be paired up with your partner. That was by design. After all, on a mission you might not always have the choice of who is by your side against the forces of evil."

Jaune sighed. _At least I might get Ren or Nora for this._ He then realized Port hadn't even mentioned what "this" is.

"As I'm sure you are all aware, you have yet to receive any work to do over the weekend. Do not worry, us teachers aren't going soft on you just yet. Instead, this will be a weekend-long test." It was possible every student present groaned at that, yet somehow Professor Port ignored it. "Each pair will be sent out in an area of the Emerald forest, to complete your own search and destroy mission. Your task will be to find the Grimm that has been marked for you, slay it, and make your way back South to the cliffs. You will be sent out later the afternoon, and will be expected to return on time for your classes on Monday. Now, since we already know your combat abilities, the Grimm you are assigned not be a challenge to slay. Instead, you will each hunt an Ursa, whose territorial nature will mean it won't wander away from the area on you. It shall be marked with a stripe of color to help you identify it. The region's selected for this are known for their low Grimm density, meaning there should not be any surprises coming your way. This shall be a test of tracking, outdoor skills, and teamwork with a new partner. Any questions?"

After such a thorough and long winded explanation, neither Jaune not anyone else had anything else to ask.

"Excellent! Once you pick a name from the bowl, I want you to go seek out your new partner immediately." And with that said, Professor Port started making his way down the line, pausing in front of each student.

Jaune began to panic slightly. _What if I'm with some stranger who thinks I'm worthless? What if I get paired with one of the two remaining CDRL members?_ Port reached Ruby, who stuck her hand in and pulled out a slip of paper, I followed by a huge shout.

"BLAKE! OMG OMG YAY WE'RE TOGETHER BLAKE!" Those immediately near the excited girl flinched at the volume of her shouts. Jaune turned to look at Ruby's new partner. Despite not looking nearly as happy as Ruby at this luck, there was no doubt the faunus was relieved with the outcome.

Next, Weiss reached her hand into the bowl and pulled her slip of paper. Immediately, her face seemed to droop, but she quickly put on a neutral facial reaction, so Jaune doubted it was the worst outcome. Weiss moved back to the waiting students, and Jaune's eyes followed her along the desks, stopping just in front of Nora and showing her the piece of paper.

 _That might not end too well._ Jaune realized as Weiss was pulled into a huge bearhug. However, Jaunes thoughts were quickly wrenched from that topic as he realized the Professor now stood in front of him, waving the bowl back and forth in a manner he obviously thought would be enticing. With a gulp, Jaune stuck his hand in and pulled a name as quickly as he could. Opening it, Jaune was first filled with a huge sense of relief, only for it to quickly turn into terror as the realization of how much teasing a full weekend alone with Yang would mean.

 _Still, it was probably, like, the 4th best outcome, after Ren, Nora and Blake._ He thought as he made his way towards Yang. _Better than like 80% of the other options._ As he made his way back towards his group, Yang seemed to realize where he was walking and before Jaune even showed her the paper, he was greeted with a flirtatious wink. _Yep, that's gonna be my weekend._ Jaune took the seat next to his new partner, and tried to scan for where Pyrrha had gone to find her partner. After a couple seconds, he spotted the redhead next to some other girl, who Jaune was fairly certain he'd never met. To be fair, there was only about three teams he did know, and one of them he straight up hated. Honestly, when he thought about it, Jaune realized it was extreme luck that six of the eight people on teams RWBY and JNPR were paired together.

"Hey Nora, who'd Ren get paired with in the end?" he turned toward the most hyper member of his team, who was still trying to get Weiss to talk to her. The white haired girl was having none of it

"Oh, Ren got paired up with Cardin" she leaned in closer and lowered her voice "I don't think either of them were very happy."

As she said this, Jaune scanned the room in the hopes of catching sight of the pair. Sure enough, they stood together, Cardin looking frustrated at the emotionless Ren. "Can't say I envy Ren's position, however he is probably the best one to be subjected to this." Nora looked like she was about to object. "Nora, just because you'd break his legs does not make it a good pair. And since I know you'll bring this up later, you're only losing Ren for one weekend. You can survive this."

"But Weiss is _so boooooring!"_ came her response, more than loud enough for the heiress to overhear. "She said she doesn't even like pancakes! How can you not like pancakes!" At this, Weiss pointedly decided to look away, making sure that everyone saw her displeasure.

"Now, everyone is expected to be present and ready at the cliffs with your partner for exactly 4:00 PM this afternoon." All heads snapped back towards the front as Professor Port decided to finish off the rest of the instructions "This provides you all with 6 hours to prepare for this mission, which should be ample time. I need not remind you that you will need enough gear to last you for the entirety of the task, which should be at most two and a half days. All the gear will be carried with you however, so keep that in mind and only bring the essentials. You are now dismissed to go prepare."

* * *

Yang sighed as she continued to gather what she thought was necessary for the weekend. The task was made much more difficult than it should have been, given Weiss had yet to stop ranting about her partner.

"Unorganized, undisciplined, irrational, hyperactive…" No one was really paying attention to her anymore. "And to just rub it in Ruby and Blake had the luck to somehow still get paired together!"

Yang glanced at the pair, happily discussing how their weekend was going to go, what they could bring, who would carry what. Yang would be lying if she said she wasn't as bit jealous that Ruby had managed to pick her teammate out of all those names. Still, she knew she couldn't complain. Jaune might not be the best in a fight, but this assignment wasn't even about fighting. Besides, last night had shown Yang that she could have lots of fun just her and Jaune. _You know, I should probably go meet up with Jaune to plan this out. I'll bring Weiss along too, she might actually shut up if she sees Nora doing something productive._ Yang flopped off her bed, placing all the personal belongings she'd deemed necessary for the weekend into her bag.

"C'mon Weiss, let's go find our partners and leave these two to their planning." In return she received a thankful glance from Blake. Yang exited the room with a less than happy Weiss in tow, and knocked on the door across the hall.

"Just a second!" Pyrrha's voice sounded, and the door was opened a few moments later. "Oh hey, Weiss, hey Yang! Nora's just gathering the last of her belongings up." A glance through the doorway showed at least half of the room in disarray, with the ginger girl sitting in the middle of it. With a sigh, Weiss pushed her way over to the girl. Pyrrha turned her attention back to Yang. "Jaune actually just left. I believe he said he was going to start gathering some food. If you hurry you should be able to catch him."

"Thanks Pyr, good luck with your partner!" Yang turned and started down the hall towards the cafeteria. _Good thing I went to check when I did. Nothing against Jauney, but I hardly trust him to pick out food for an entire weekend._

As she entered the kitchen, she was happy to see Jaune seemed to have only just arrived. "Hey partner! Already trying to run away from me?" She walked up, slapping Jaune on the back and making him flinch.

"Sorry Yang, I just wanted to come down and grab some food before all the others got here." He had a point, as Yang noticed that the kitchen was still largely unraided, meaning they were probably one of the first teams in here. "Anyways, I got some basics out already, wanna give it a look through and help me grab the rest?"

The two set to work grabbing out some food. "Canned food will probably be best, can't squish that. Maybe some fruit would also be good, to keep up energy." Jaune kept naming the best foods to bring while Yang went searching in the cupboard which had housed the cookies last night. Maybe both of the the had been hanging around Ruby too much.

The pair of blondes were just finishing gathering up the rest of their food just as Pyrrha, Weiss, Nora and the mysterious girl who Jaune still didn't know were entering. Nora, unsurprisingly, immediately went searching for sweets. "C'mon Weiss, marshmallows will be perfect! We'll have a campfire and everything! Not to mention they even match your outfit."

"Alright fine, but we need _actual_ food as well." It seemed that the Ice Princess was finally warming up to Nora. Or, at least, had finally accepted had she was in for.

"Ohh, good idea Nora! Yang, lets grab some marshmallows as well!" Jaune set to work beside his teammate scouring the kitchen.

"Jauney, why would you need marshmallows when I'm already so soft and fluffy?" That made sure Jaune stopped his search, faced turned away so that Yang and Pyrrha couldn't see his reddening complexion. The pair burst into laughter, causing Jaune to turn to Pyrrha a betrayed look.

"Oh Jaune, lighten up," the redhead replied to his glare.

"You aren't gonna be stuck with this all weekend," he retorted.

"I'm just messing with you Vomit-Boy, now grab some marshmallows and let's skedaddle." With that, the pair headed out of the kitchen.

"Hey Yang, should we bring a tent with us, or just sleep in the open?"

"Well, if you want to bring a tent you can, but that also means you have to carry it along."

"Right, no tent. Should we bring a spare sleeping bag?"

"Just refer to my previous answer."

"Right, I think we'll do without a spare. Should we bring some firewood?"

At this, Yang stopped and looked at him incredulously. "Jaune, we are being sent into a forest. Why. Would. We. Bring. Wood. With. Us?"

"Sorry, just asking," he replied with a sheepish grin.

"Honestly, I know you're a bit scatterbrained, but that was bad, even for you Jauney." She slowed down as they reached the dorms. "Although, I guess that's to be expected when you have to spend so much time with someone as good looking as myself."

Jaune went to enter his dorm. "Just finish preparing your personal stuff. Let's meet back up at the cliffs, say, 3:30?"

"If you say so," replied the brawler, and with that closed her door behind her. Once again, Jaune was left wondering how he was going to survive a full weekend with her. He shook his head and decided he'd deal with it as it comes. Within his room, he was greeted by the sight of Ren preparing his gear.

"Oh hey, how's the preparation coming along?"

"Cardin's an idiot."

"Yeesh, that bad already? I really don't envy you, stuck with him all weekend."

"Yep." The ninja gritted his teeth as he put some finishing touches on packing.

"Still, better you than anyone else. I doubt Cardin will find anything to annoy you with, and it's not exactly like he was ever able to beat you in a fight."

Ren sighed, and put his now full bag on his bed. "That's true. Better me than any of you seven."

Jaune took a quick glance at the time, seeing it as just before noon. That was a bit of a surprise, seeing as he was more or less done packing already. "Hey Ren, I feel we could spare a couple hours now, seeing as we're both pretty much ready. How about we go into Vale and find something to eat real quick? Just the bros, my treat. Seeing as you got a raw deal from this, it's the least I can do.

At this, Ren finally smiled. "Sure, let's go." With that, the two friends headed out the door.

* * *

"Ah, I'm glad to see that none of you are late! Please, with your partner choose one of the launch pads marked with a color." Professor Port addressed the assembled first years, while Ms. Goodwitch supervised from the side.

Jaune turned to ask Yang. "Which color shall we choose?"

"Jaune. I'm yellow. Your yellow. We're picking yellow."

"Alright, alright, let's go yellow. No need to be mean about it."

"Now, the Ursa you will be hunting will be marked with the color you just chose. While it is highly unlikely you will run across an the Ursa of another pairing due to their territorial nature, we decided to cut the risk." Port continued to address the class. "Each of the launch pads has be modified to launch you to the general area of your prey. I ask that none of you attempt to alter your path, or you risk failing to find the beast, and as such failing the task."

The pair of blondes stepped on to their launch pad together. "I should warn you, students, if you and your partner do not keep together during this flight, it will only make this task more difficult. I suggest you do not break contact with each other until attempting to land."

"Ok Yang, how do you want to keep contact? Can we like, tie ourselves together? Oh, I see most people are linking arms and such, that seems like the easiest way."

 _The easiest way, but not the most fun. I might as well take some enjoyment out of this_. Waiting until their pad was about to launch, Yang quickly stepped behind the rambling boy, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. Before he could react, she leaned in and whispered into his year, "Time for liftoff"

"No wait Yang what are you doi-" The poor panicking boy was cut off as they were sent flying into the air.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 is already done, much sooner then I expected! Considering how much time I have to put into this (much more than I thought) I should hopefully be able to post the next chapter within about 3 days!**

 **Thanks to all the people supporting the story, I was mainly expecting this to get lost within the large volume of fanfics, and even a couple responses of people asking for more! And of course I will supply.**

 **'Til next chapter!**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	3. Unexpected Mistakes

Chapter 3: Unexpected Mistakes

Eventually, Jaune stopped screaming. Eventually being the key word. In fact, as she thought about it, Yang realized that they seem to have been launched quite far, much further than during the initiation. However, that wasn't a surprise; initiation had been a day-long experience, the task ahead of them was expected to take up to 3 days. Not to mention each group had to be sent into different areas.

As the pair of blondes finally started to descend, a new thought entered Yang's mind: landing. While usually this wouldn't have been a problem for the brawler, her arms, and as such her method of landing, were currently entwined around Jaunes waist. Letting go would only lead to her and Jaune getting separated, not to mention she wasn't entirely confident in the poor boys abilities to land on his own.

Instead, he'd just have to land on his own while having someone cling to him tightly from behind. She could see how that would make the whole ordeal easier. Obviously Jaunes thoughts weren't too far off her own, as he turned to show the fearful expression on his face. _Crap crap crap,_ was all Yang could think as the treetops accelerated towards them. It didn't seem they could slow their descent. _But maybe we don't have to._ She just had to hope Jaune would catch on quickly.

"Jauney, shield!" His eyes showed nothing but confusion and fear. "Just hold it in front!" Luckily, he was at least thinking enough to follow orders, as Yang saw him expand his shield in front of the pair. "Now hide!" She curled herself up into a ball, hoping he'd understand. He did, but he definitely wasn't happy. But, with the ground approaching quickly, Jaune was smart enough to realize he didn't have much of a choice. He huddled all the body he could behind his shield, making sure his head was well protected, while Yang tried to make herself as small as possible behind him. If anyone had been watching, it would have looked like the weirdest hedgehog ever

To give Yang credit, for a plan made up on the fly (literally), it did pretty well. Most of the branches struck harmlessly off the large shield protecting them, some of the larger branches redirecting them a bit. And while Jaunes shin's being exposed meant they got whipped a lot by the passing twigs, it really did seem that the landing wouldn't go too badly.

But while it was easy to break or move the branches in front of them, the unlucky duo discovered that a solid tree trunk was stronger than them. With a dull thud, all their momentum was immediately halted as they hit the tree dead-on and began to drop straight down. Somehow, Yang had managed to keep her hold on her partner through the collision, and instincts took over as she angled their fall so Jaune was positioned directly below her.

Had it not been for Jaunes huge aura reserves, he would have likely taken some serious damage. After his legs had been seriously assaulted by the branches whipping by, he took the full brunt of being slammed into a tree trunk, only to slam into the ground a few seconds later. And then Yang landed on his back. He wasn't entirely sure what he had done in a past life, but Jaune was fairly certain he didn't deserve this punishment.

"Well, that could have ended much worse." All Jaune could do was groan in pain as his partner stood up and dusted herself off. "C'mon, we probably have a couple of hours before we need to make camp for the night." Another groan was all the response she got.

With a sigh, the brawler bent down and hoisted the battered boy to his feet. "Honestly Jauney, it wasn't even that bad."

"That's because I took most of the impact for you. Both times"

"And that was very gentlemanly of you. But do expect to find the Ursa by sitting around her miserably?"

"Well, I mean it would be attracted to my suffering. Can you just let me sit here in pain and kill the Grimm when it comes?"

"Jauney, while I am always happy to avoid doing work, I don't think this is one of your best plans."

"Fine, but can we at least take it easy for the remainder of today? I wouldn't be surprised if I got a concussion from that."

Yang just laughed and started walking into the woods. And by the amount of grumbling going on behind her, Jaune had followed.

* * *

The pair spent the next couple hours wandering around, keeping an eye open for any signs their target was in the area. While they found tons of evidence of Grimm activity, none of it was recent enough for the blondes to think that the Ursa was nearby. Therefore, it was with a bit of disappointment that they finally decided to set up camp, just as the sun was threatening to dip below the horizon.

"What did you expect, Yang? That we'd kill the Grimm tonight, maybe set up sleep for a bit and be back at the school for lunch tomorrow?" The girl in question decided to respond with a pout. "There's a reason they gave us until Monday to complete this."

"I know, but does that really mean a girl can't hope? No offense to you, but this isn't exactly how I planned on spending my weekend."

"C'mon, you seemed so upbeat when we started off."

"Well ya, but that's because you looked like you were in pain."

"Oh." Jaune started arranging the kindling they had gathered. The pair, and probably everyone else in the forest, had been quite lucky that there hadn't been any rain for a while. "Out of curiosity, how did you plan on spending the weekend, seeing as we hadn't been given any work."

"Did you forget what I said Thursday about the two of us sleeping together all day?"

"Haha, Yang." Nevertheless, a blush went to his cheeks. "I was just asking to be friendly, seeing as we have to spend quite a bit of time together."

"You raise a good point. While probably not as comfortable as a bed, I guess we are alone here in the wood."

"N-not what I meant Yang. So not what I meant." Pleased with her work embarrassing Jaune, the brawler went to grab the food out of her bag. It was only then that she the problem.

"Hey Jaune, did end up bringing that spare sleeping bag in the end?" She tried to ask casually.

He looked up from the fire in front of him, slightly confused "Not in the end, no. Why d'you ask?"

"Oh, don't worry about it." Sure she would tell him, but that didn't mean right now. _Not to mention I might as well have some fun with this, it won't be changing anytime soon anyways._

Jaune did worry about it. Jaune worried about most things where Yang was involved. Nope, scratch that. He worried about _all things_ where Yang was involved. And so far, she had done nothing to prove him wrong. Well, there had been the time she opened up to him the other night. However, that had hardly seemed like Yang. She was always so confident, so happy, and seeing her otherwise had upset Jaune.

Jaune pushed those thoughts away as she plopped herself down by the fire next to him. "Here's yours, already wrapped up." She gave him a smile as the blonde's placed their dinner (a potato wrapped in tinfoil) into the fire to cook. Ok, officially, something had to up. She was acting normal. Jaune didn't like that, Yang and normal don't usually go together. Ironically, it was very abnormal. But as Jaune gave her a quizzical look, there was no obvious reaction from the brawler. However, he knew better than to push for an answer. He did, after all, want to make it back in one piece.

The partners ate in an awkward silence for a while, only interrupted by the sounds of nature going on around them. Finally, Jaune had enough. Their mutual silence felt wrong. He needed something to break the quiet. "So what did you plan on doing this weekend? For real this time."

Yang seemed surprised by the sudden outburst from Jaune. "Well, I'd have probably headed into Vale. It's been forever since I got to have a good night on the town. Especially since no one else on team RWBY would be willing to join me."

"Wait, Yang, were still 17. How are you going to clubs and bars already?"

"Oh poor, young, naive Jauney. Is a girl not allowed to some fun when she wants?"

"Probably not when she's still underage to drink."

Yang let out a quick snort "We're like, less than a year away from 18. And we're already being trained as hunters, we're not exactly kids anymore." Upon seeing Jaune's still skeptical look, she quickly added "How about this; next time I go out I'll drag you along with me."

Jaune tried his best to look shocked at the idea, but it was obvious he was at least a little curious. "I- Well- It seems really irresponsible."

"Ah, c'mon. You'll just get dragged along to do the same thing when you turn 18 anyways. What's the harm in going a little early?"

Jaune seemed to consider this for a while, before coming to a realization. "Wait, all we were talking about was what you would be doing in your free time. When did we get to the part where you were bringing me out clubbing?"

Yang stifled a laugh. "Alright you caught me. How 'bout we hit the hay so we can hopefully finish up this task tomorrow?"

Jaune stood up, nodding his agreement. "Sounds good." However, as he glanced around, he noticed something missing from their campsite. "Yang, why haven't you set up your sleeping bag?"

 _Ah crap. I'd forgotten about that._ "Oh, I decided we could just share tonight." She walked over and reached to grab something from her bag

"Haha, Yang. Now just get your stuff ready."

"Umm… I'm actually being serious this time." Jaune looked completely taken aback. "Because of this." Jaune caught the object Yang had thrown towards him. It was her sleeping bag, with several huge rips and holes in it. "You know that landing strategy we had, the one worked really well? Thing is, I had my sleeping bag attached on the outside of my pack, and I guess it wasn't as well protected from all the branches as I thought."

Jaune sighed, realizing he couldn't just let his fellow blonde sleep on the ground, not with how cold it could get overnight. "Fine, I guess we're sharing." A thought suddenly crossed his mind. "Hey, you didn't plan all this, did you?"

"Now Jauney, I might be a bit flirtatious, but even I'm not that forward." She settled down into his sleeping bag. "Now c'mon, kick out the fire and let's just go to sleep."

The nervous boy did as asked, before cautiously trying to fit into the sleeping bag himself, trying to avoid as much contact as he could. Unsuccessfully.

"You know Jauney, I was just joking about the two of us sleeping together this weekend, but it looks like your dream came true anyways." He shifted, once again failing his attempt to make more space between them. "However, if your hands end up anywhere they shouldn't, it won't end well for you."

"Yang, can we just go to sleep and get this over with?"

And with that, the partners settled down into what would probably the most awkward night of their lives yet.

* * *

 **Hey guys, I know this is a shorter chapter. Originally, the entire trip was going to be one chapter, but I realized it would be really long and might take me a while. Instead, I decided to publish what I had done so far, along with going through and fixing some grammar mistakes in my other chapters.**

 **Once again, expect the next chapter in a few days, probably another shorter one. As always, feel free to leave a review and tell me where I could improve, I am always open to suggestions.**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	4. Downs and Ups

Chapter 4: Downs and Ups

If asked, no one was likely to describe Yang as a morning person. As such, when she felt the first stirrings of consciousness, her instinct was not get up, but instead bury her head further down into the warm, soft presence in front of her...

 _Wait, what?_ Yang opened her eyes just a crack, only to see a bunch of pale skin. _Oh gods, don't be what I think this is._ As Yang's mind slowly began to function, she realized it was exactly was she thought is was, and probably a bit worse. She was very glad it was just the two of them, as Yang was fairly certain that if anyone else could have seen the scene she would have died of embarrassment. She lay there, face pressed into the crook of Jaunes neck, with one arm resting on his chest and one of her legs intertwined with his. Groggily, she began to sit up before Jaune realized that she had been clinging to him while they slept.

At the increased amount of movement going on, a soft voice came from besides her "Oh Yang, are you finally awake?"

The fact he was already awake took Yang by surprise "Wait, were you just laying there while I was cuddling you in my sleep?"

Jaune sat up, scratching the back of his head "Uhh... Well… I know you're not a morning person, so I thought I'd let you sleep…"

"Yes, but I was sleeping _on you!_ "

Sheepishly, he looked away. "Exactly, if I had tried to move, you would've been woken up."

Yang sighed, getting up to start packing up the camp. It wasn't really fair to blame him, it's not like he had been the one clinging to her. "Can you get us some breakfast while I pack up our things?"

Jaune did as instructed, avoiding Yang's gaze as he went about restarting their fire from last night. When he had woken up, it had taken Jaune a few moments to completely realize what had happened, and what position Yang was currently lying in. However, while most guys would probably have been ecstatic if the arguably hottest girl in their grade had been cuddling him while they slept in the same sleeping bag, Jaune had simply been paralyzed by fear. He had lain there for a while, debating whether he should try to sneak away and pretend it never happened, or just feign sleep and let Yang decide how to deal with it. Now he was just hoping to put the entire ordeal in the past.

 _Sure, there was definitely worse ways to wake_ _up,_ he thought to himself _but it's not like I liked how she was holding to me, right? Were just friends after all. For gods sake, my first friend here was her sister!_ Jaune shook his head to clear his thoughts, deciding that trying to forget what happened was probably the bets course of action.

In the meantime, Yang had finished putting away the last of their gear and sat down next to the fire, which Jaune had managed to get going again and was now cooking sausages over. She couldn't get over the shock of how she had woken up that morning. _Still, I was asleep, it's not like I chose to drape myself all over him,_ she sternly lectured herself. _I can't be blamed for that_. Despite that, her thoughts kept going back to how nice it had felt to wake up with Jaune right there next to her.

* * *

It was about noon when the pair of blondes finally found evidence of the Ursa being nearby. They stood examining the dead tree in front of them, knocked over and with deep claw marks in several spots on the trunk.

"Well, it certainly seems like he really disliked this tree."

"You don't say. The claw marks are pretty fresh though, can't have been earlier than this morning." At the mention of the morning, the blondes shuffled nervously.

"If we kill this thing soon we might be able to make it back before tonight." Jaune eventually blurted out, breaking the silence that had settled over the pair. _And we won't have to sleep together again,_ they both said to themselves.

The next few hours were spent putting all their tracking skills to work. They followed footprints, marked trees, anything that gave them a hint to where the Ursa could have gone. It was frustrating work, especially since nothing seemed to suggest they were gaining any ground on the beast.

"At least our constant disappointment might eventually attract the Grimm to us." Jaune tried to sound upbeat that they continued their search. Seeing that his partner wasn't even listening, he added "It might also help if you weren't spaced out half the time."

Yang snapped back to the present, proving Jaunes point "I'm sorry, but this weekend isn't exactly going how I thought it would."

"But on the other hand, this is exactly what _I_ expected," he barked back.

"Let's just get this over with so we can head back to Beacon."

"It might go faster if you decided to focus a bit more on the task."

Yang flared up "Oh, so this is my fault? If you had a different partner then you two would be happily sitting back in your dorm? Well, I'm so sorry!"

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Their voices were reaching dangerously high levels. "Look, is this about what happened this morning? That was an accident, it was no one's fault!"

"It's not that simple!"

"Then explain it to me why don't you!"

"I ca-" Yang never got to finish her sentence as a huge black figure burst out of the forest, barreling towards them. Immediately her instincts kicked in, throwing herself to the side, rolling so she came up on one knee. As the creature turned for another pass at the hunters, Yang caught a glimpse of yellow along one of it's side.

As the Ursa began it's charge again, Yang launched herself to meet it, ducking underneath the large claws that had swung at her and feeling her fist connect with the monsters flank. As soon as she felt then punch land, Yang fired Ember Celica at point-blank, using the power to jump back away from the beast. As the Ursa turned again to face its attacker, Jaune ran in, using his shield as a battering ram to knock it over. Sensing the chance, Yang jumped right back in, firing shots towards the downed monster.

However, it recovered quicker than either blonde had expected given its size, and was quick to once again go on the offense, this time targeting Jaune. He blocked it's first swipe with his shield, jumping to the left as its other massive paw swung towards his head. Seeing that the creature had overbalanced, Jaune took the chance to step around the beast and drive his sword into his now-exposed back. It roared deafeningly, flailing an arm behind him to try to catch Jaune, who had already stepped back out of range. The Ursa turned, ready to attack again, only for the side of it's head to meet Yang's fist. For the already battered Grimm, this proved to be the last straw, and it evaporated into dust.

"You know, I did say that he would be attracted to all our negativity."

* * *

As the last rays of daylight began to disappear from the sky, the partners once again sat in front of the fire. They had been unable to quite reach the cliffs that day after the fight, instead being forced to camp a couple of hours away or try to continue in the dark, which they had quickly agreed was a bad idea.

"How do you think our teammates are doing?" Jaune posed his question between mouthfuls of marshmallows.

"Well, I doubt Blake and Ruby would have had any troubles. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they were already back at Beacon by this afternoon."

Jaune nodded in agreement. "Ren probably didn't have any struggles either. I mean, he's practically a ninja, no way he had problems tracking. Not to mention that since he was partnered up with Cardin, Ren would want to be done as soon as physically possible."

"True true. The ones I'd be most worried about is Weiss and Nora. Just try to imagine them working together." They both let out a chuckle as they tried to picture that scene. "I wouldn't be surprised if Weiss just tried to leave her."

"Oh no, the last thing we want is Nora alone in a forest full of Grimm. She'd somehow come back with a small army of them at her command." Another round of laughter came after this. "Honestly, I pity anyone who has to try to control Nora without Ren around to help."

"I still don't know how the poor boy puts up with it. He so quiet, and Nora's so… Nora."

"I mean, it's a bit like you and Blake isn't it?. One quiet, studious partner and another energetic, loud partner."

Jaune's comment earned him a marshmallow thrown at his head. "Oh, you did _not_ just compare me to Nora."

"Ya, I'm sorry. She's much more manageable than you. Not to mention you don't have to put up with horrible puns all the time."

"You jerk!" Yang responded through fits of laughter. Jaune ducked as the whole bag of marshmallows whistled above his hair.

"Hey! I wasn't done eating those!"

"Yes you are. C' mon, if go to sleep we can be off early tomorrow. Plus I'm tired."

"Alright fine." Yang watched as her partner walked over to his backpack, fluffed it once or twice and proceeded to lie down on the ground.

"Jaune, you really are a dolt. Get over here and sleep in the sleeping bag."

"No, really it's fine. Plus it makes it a lot less awkward for both of us."

"If you don't get in the sleeping bag right now, I swear I will fold you up into a ball and forcibly insert you into it." At the threat of violence, Jaune gave in and joined his fellow blonde in the sleeping bag. "Anyways, as you said what happened last time was an accident."

"Ya, I guess..." Jaune still wasn't entirely convinced, but he gave in since he knew it was only for one more night. However, as the pair settled down Jaune was fairly certain he felt Yang push herself closer to him.

* * *

When Jaune finally woke up the next morning, he noticed Yang was already up and cooking breakfast. As he sat up, a half-hearted 'morning' was directed his way. While it was strange to see the brawler up so early, Jaune wasn't about to complain. It meant he didn't have to deal with what position they had woken up in this morning. And he wasn't about to ask.

They ate in silence, more due to tiredness than anything. In fact, they were almost all the way back to the school before either of them felt they had the energy to start up the conversation.

"You know, camping really kills my back. I don't know about you Yang, I'm really looking forward to being able to sleep in my bed again."

"Oh Jauney, surely I wasn't that bad in bed, was I?"

"It has nothing to do with you Yang."

"Perfect, so you won't mind if I join you in your bed back at Beacon?"

A blush went to Jaune's cheeks. "I've changed my mind, it has everything to do with you. Anyways, you really don't want to sleep in the same room as Nora."

"It's okay, we can just use my bed."

"But there's four girls in that room. I'll, like, catch cooties or something."

Yang reached over and poked his arm "Too late."

"Lets just get back to Beacon," Jaune replied with a sigh. "Maybe I'll be able to get rid of you there." Yang responded with a small burst of laughter, but the two picked up their pace nonetheless.

It was around noon when the pair finally made it back to their school, and judging by the number of people about they were finished earlier than most. The first thing they did was go to their rooms to see if any of their teammates were back yet.

While Yang's dorm was still empty, Jaune was greeted by Ren upon opening the door. The trio agreed to meet in the cafeteria and grab some lunch after the blondes had cleaned themselves up a bit.

"So Ren, when did you end up getting back?" Jaune asked while drying himself off.

"Yesterday afternoon."

Jaune paused at looked at his friend, shocked "Wait, so you mean it took you and Cardin less than a day to complete the task?"

"I had enough motivation to finish quickly." He then added with a smirk "Plus, I am a ninja."

"I can't argue that. We're you guys the first pair back then?"

"I think so. You and Yang are the first back from our teams either way."

"Well I doubt the others will take too long, they're all strong teams." Ren nodded his agreement as Jaune finished getting dressed. "Let's go meet Yang in the caf and figure out what to do for the rest of the day.

* * *

While most of the day had come and gone, no one else from team RWBY or JNPR had made their back to Beacon yet, to the surprise of Ran, Jaune and Yang. Hoping to stay up until at least someone else got back, the trio decided on watching a movie while they waited.

"C'mon, _Sean of the Undead_ is a classic!" Yang pleaded her case to the boys in front of her.

"I don't know, I'm not a big fan of horror movies," was her fellow blondes response, while Ren just shrugged.

"But it's a comedy, not a horror movie," she argued. "Besides, if you get too scared, I'll be right here to comfort you."

"Fine. But if I do get scared I'm turning to Ren for comfort." He looked at his teammate for support.

"No."

"Or maybe not."

Yang shook her head "I'm just gonna put this on now."

As the film began, the trio all settled themselves down. They had taken up residence in JNPR's room, and decided to push all four of the beds together to form one big area for them to relax. While this theoretically meant that there was more than enough room for all three of them to have their own space, it hadn't stopped Yang from lying uncomfortably close to Jaune. And constantly jabbing him with her elbow.

"Ack! Yang quit it!" Jaune whispered harshly "I'm trying to watch the movie _you_ picked!"

"Hmmm… no." With a sigh, Jaune scooted a bit further away. Yang followed. Jaune rolled once away. At first it seemed Yang would just follow, but at the last second rolled a bit extra and ended up on top of Jaune.

"Hrgh! Yang gerroff, you're too hea-" A pair of stern lilac eyes made him reconsider his next words "I-I mean I'm too weak."

"Nice save their Vomit-Boy, but I'm still gonna have to go with no."

"Oh c'mon. Ren, a little help here." However, a quick look around for the boy in green showed that he had relocated to a nest of pillows on the floor.

"I'm not getting involved in this. Sorry."

"Coward." Jaune threw back, resigned to his fate.

* * *

"Oh, oh oh Blake, who else do you think is back?"

"Ruby, were less than a minute away from the dorms, can't you just wait and see?" But upon seeing Ruby's pout, Blake caved. "Fine. If I had to guess, I'd say most people are probably back already. It's already pretty late and we were told to be back by tomorrow morning."

Ruby pouted even more "Are you saying we were slow?"

Blake paused as they reached the dorms "You really are impossible. Huh, turns out our rooms still empty." Blake closed the door she had just opened. "Why don't you check JNPR's room?"

Ruby opened the door a crack and peeked in. "Oh, there watching a movie in here. I see Ren, Yang and…." Ruby quickly shut the door and turned to the faunus. "Blake, Yang is lying _on top_ of Jaune!" Blake looked unimpressed, so Ruby continued excitedly "Does this mean Jaune's going to be my brother-in-law?"

"What? No! And why is that the first thing you thought of?"

This took the wind out of her leaders sails "I don't know, it's just they weren't that close before and now their on the bed together and I don't know…" Ruby mumbled halfheartedly.

Blake sighed. "Ruby, they had to spend a full weekend together, they probably just became closer friends. Besides, Yang's always loved to torment Jaune."

However, as the faunus looked into the room herself, she understood a _bit_ better how their young leader had come to such a conclusion. Ren was sat on the floor, while the pair of blondes were taking up the beds, Jaune not even complaining as Yang lay on him. They were all too focused on the movie to notice the pair of girls peeking through the door frame though. _While it is weird to see Jaune not complaining, this isn't too abnormal a scene._ Blake thought to herself. _Even so, it is probably a good thing Pyrrha isn't here to see this._

"Hello! How did the task go?" A familiar cheerful voice rang out behind them, causing Blake cursed her big mouth.

"Hey Pyrrha!" Blake quickly turned to answer the redhead, giving Ruby a meaningful look.

"Is anyone else back yet?"

"Ya, Yang, Jaune and Ren are in your room!" Ruby chimed in, earning her another glare from Blake.

"Oh, perfect! Let's go say hello and talk about how it went!" She started towards the door.

The faunus quickly moved to block Pyrrha's path. "Oh no, they're...uh… asleep! They must have dozed off waiting for us, and we didn't want to wake them. Why don't you join Ruby and I in our room so that they can get their rest?"

"Good idea, it was a tiring weekend for all of us after all. The last thing we want is to wake them up."

As the three of them entered RWBY's room, Blake silently thanked Pyrrha's altruistic nature.

* * *

 **Hey guys! A couple of things to note now that this chapters done:**

 **First, up to this point I've been getting a part out every 2-3 days, which is a pce I never expected. However, it should be slowing down, as I begin to have more stuff to do. Plus this means I'm more likely to proofread my work thoroughly, and hopefully cut back on all the grammatical/spelling mistakes.**

 **Second, as I thought about where this story is going, I've decided I will bump the rating up to M. While I don't think it needs it yet, it will probably be appropriate in a chapter or two.**

 **Finally, thanks to all of you who have followed, favorited and reviewed my story, especially** _ **CrackPairingLover,**_ **who likes to point out every chapter that I suck at proofreading (joking, I am always appreciative of feedback).**

 **Also bonus points to anyone who knows which movie I referenced this chapter.**

 **Til next part,**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	5. Explanations and Propositions

Chapter 5: Explanations and Propositions

It was getting quite late by the time Yang finally decided to head to her own room. The trio had hung around for a while after the movie ended, hoping someone else would turn up. However, as the clock ticked away, they began to lose hope, and eventually decided they might as well go to sleep. They still had classes tomorrow after all.

Therefore it was to Yang's surprise when, after bidding the boys goodnight, she walked into her own dorm to not just find Ruby and Blake, but also Pyrrha waiting there. As she stood in the doorway trying to figure it out, the three friends finally became aware of her presence and rushed to greet her.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked while brushing away their greetings. "Why did you guys not come say hello?"

"Oh, we didn't want to disturb you guys." Pyrrha responded from her spot on Yang's bed.

"Disturb us? We were waiting for you to get back."

A confused look crossed the redhead's face, and Blake quickly stepped in "What she's talking about is how we found you _asleep_ when we got back. Isn't that right, Ruby?"

Ruby immediately caught on "Ya Yang, we walked in and the three of you were _asleep._ "

The blonde was now even more confused than Pyrrha. "What? No, we-" However, the frantic looks on her teammates faces convincing Yang to go along. "I mean.. *ahem* we, uh, wouldn't have minded you guys waking us up, as we were planning on waiting for you."

"Ah, I see." The spartan still looked a bit confused, but was happy enough with the explanation. "Am I safe to head back to our quarters then?"'

"Yes, Ren and Jaune will be happy to hear your back. 'Night Pyr."

Once Pyrrha was safely out of earshot, Yang rounded on her teammates. "Alright, you two owe an explanation."

It was Blake who answered her "Actually, we wouldn't mind an explanation as to why you and Jaune were getting so _buddy-buddy_ on the bed."

The brawler was taken aback, a rare blush going to her face "Err… Well you guys know how much I like to make Jaune uncomfortable…."

"True as that is, I don't think either you or Jaune were very uncomfortable with that arrangement."

Yang was unusually flustered, which both her teammates took note of "Ya, um... well we just grew a lot closer together over the weekend is all." She didn't sound entirely sure of her words.

"Yay! It sounds like Jaune _will_ be my new brother-in-law!"

"Ruby, not that again" Blake let out a sigh, while Yang just stared at her sister before snapping back to what her partner said.

"Wait, what do you mean _again_?" she demanded, but the faunus just waved it off.

"Yang, I know you were probably just tormenting Jaune. However, it probably wasn't the best position for Pyrrha to walk in on, which she would have had we not told her you were all asleep."

"Ah, yes, I can see your point. Guess I should thank you for the save there."

"Accepted."

"On a separate note, has there been any sign or Weiss and Nora?" Neither girl answered. "I'll go with 'no' then. It is getting a bit late to wait for her though, especially with classes tomorrow."

"Lets just hope she gets back on time, or else they'll fail the mission."

"Oh Weiss will be fine. "Ruby chimed in to defend her partner. "I bet we'll wake up tomorrow and find her sleeping peacefully."

On that note, the present members of team RWBY decided to call it a night, too tired to continue the conversation

* * *

Across the hall, the boys of team JNPR was catching up with Pyrrha, who had miraculously shown up both clean and in a pair of Blake's pyjamas.

The boys had already arranged the beds back to their normal places, and Jaune had passed out cold at the first opportunity.

"Hey Ren, no sign of Nora yet?"

If the ninja was surprised by Pyrrha's appearance, he didn't show it. "Not yet. How are you already cleaned off?"

"Oh, I didn't want to disturb you guys, so I joined Ruby and Blake in their room for a bit. Then Yang came in and said I was safe to head back over. I notice Jaune is still asleep though." She added on with a smile. Once again, if Ren found anything the spartan had said odd, his face didn't reveal it. "Anyways, I'm sure Nora will get back on time. She's very determined."

Ren raised an eyebrow at that. "Yes, _determined._ "

In the end, most of the night had passed before Weiss and Nora made it back to was the loud groaning that tipped Jaune off to her presence the next morning. He sat up, looking for the source of the unusual sound, before jumping as the door to team JNPR's room flew open.

"Nora, you're back!" The ginger girl did not look at all amused. "I'm glad you finished in time, when you hadn't got back by last night we began to worry."

Uncharacteristically, Nora simply walked over to her bed and lay still. The sound of body hitting bed was enough to wake their other teammates, however.

"Nora, I'm glad to see you've returned." Pyrrha chimed in when she realized what had happened. The response was silence. "Uh, Nora?"

Ren walked over to examine his childhood friend. "She's asleep."

"Well wake her up then Ren," JNPR's leader retorted "We have classes in an hour, and Nora still needs to get cleaned off and eat."

"Actually, I don't feel like dying today, so I'm going to say no."

"I was right, you are a coward."

"Why don't you wake her up then?"

"Hey, I never said I wasn't a coward."

* * *

"Alright now class, before you head out I want to remind you that with the upcoming Vytal festival you would do well to get in more combat practice" Ms. Goodwitch's voice rang out as the students filed out of the classroom.

"Ugh, I thought would never end!" Ruby complained as she led her team to lunch. "Why can't Ms. Goodwitch just always do sparring practice?"

"Ruby, combat theory is arguably even more important that combat itself. If you know the best strategy to beat your opponent before even coming to blows, you put yourself at an advantage." Weiss seemed to have recovered well in the few days since the weekend, at least enough to get back to her usual nagging. It was still a mystery as what had happened to her and Nora during the task, at least to their teams. Neither could be convinced to talk about it, which was especially worrying considering Nora usually took every chance she had to regale them with her fantastical stories. One thing was certain though, it had pushed the completely opposite girls, if not to friendship, at least to trust. Every now and again they would be seen sitting together, not talking, just sitting in each other's company.

 _Come to think of it, most of the pairs seemed to have bonded,_ Yang realized. There wasn't too much difference between Blake and Ruby since they had already been so close. But Pyrrha would now always greet her partner if they passed in the halls, sometimes even stopping to exchange small talk. _Side note, I really need to ask Pyr what that girl's name is._ And then there was her and Jaune of course, Yang smiling to herself at the thought. When it came down to it, she had enjoyed the weekend, despite the awkwardness. _Or maybe because of those awkward moments,_ Yang caught herself thinking, but quickly threw that idea away. In any case, it certainly seemed that the weekend had served to bring teams RWBY and JNPR closer, and no one was complaining about that.

"At least this means we're getting less work in other classes now." Yang had zoned out while her team talked, but as they sat down to eat she started to listen to her sister again. "The teachers really are focusing on the Vytal festival."

That was a fact Yang was happy about. As the tournament grew closer, much more focus was put on the combat and sparring classes, while those like history and Grimm studies had taken a back seat. Which was made doubly sweet because those classes were their main sources of homework.

"Here's an idea guys, " the brawler joined the conversation. "Since we didn't actually get our weekend off last time, why don't we go have some fun this coming weekend?"

"Yang, we're getting less work so that we can get in more practice in our spare time. We should be practicing sparring."

"Ah, c'mon Weiss. What we need is some time to relax and unwind. We're probably already the best combat team in our year. Besides, we're only going to get more busy in the future, this could be our last chance."

"Actually sis, I think I agree with Weiss here." Yang gave Ruby a betrayed look. "We'll be going up against teams that might have a couple of years experience on us. We should be using all our spare time to get better." Ruby's partner looked at her approvingly.

"Guys, it will be one night out, at most we'll be losing a couple hours of training." When this didn't seem to convince them, Yang turned to her own partner. "Blake, back me up here."

"Sorry, I'm not really the 'going out' type."

"Fine, you're all losers anyways," Yang pouted. "Actually, speaking of losers, the offers open to anyone on JNPR as well." She turned to face the team who had been watching the amusing exchange going on across from them, catching them by surprise. "What do you guys say?"

"Well, what exactly were you thinking of doing?" Jaune was the first to respond to his fellow blonde.

"Well, as I mentioned to you, it's been awhile since I got to go out clubbing. And since my sister already said she won't be joining us, it seems were free for a night on the town." Yang knew she'd suggested the right thing. While Pyrrha and Ren looked less than impressed, she knew Jaune couldn't help but consider it. It would be a new experience for him, and he had to admit it was a bit curious.

"Sounds like it could be fun."

Pyrrha turned to her leader in shock. "Jaune!"

"What? Like she said, it's one night off to relax. Besides, we are almost 18 anyways, so where's the harm?"

"Ya, it sounds awesome!" Nora threw in her thoughts on the matter.

"If you want to go, I won't stop you. But I do want you to know I disapprove of this choice."

"Pyrrha, we'll be fine. I trust Yang, and this isn't her first time going out." Yang nodded in confirmation. "If you still aren't sure you can always join us to make sure it all goes fine."

"No thanks Jaune," she responded, annoyance showing on the spartans face. "But thanks for the offer." And with that, Pyrrha stood up and left the cafeteria.

"Ah crap, should I follow her?"

"Probably best not to just yet. Give it time, she'll be calmer later." A look around showed the rest of their table nodding in agreement.

* * *

A couple days later, the group met up near the airships, ready to head into town.

"Ok, are you guys all ready to go?" Yang addressed the group as they gathered together. Jaune and Nora nodded, while Ren just shrugged. In the end, the quiet boy had been forced to go along with the group, both by Nora and Pyrrha, who wanted him there to make sure it all stayed in control. "Great, we'll go into Vale and grab a bite to eat before heading off to have our fun."

The group had made up their plan a couple days ago. They had decided to go out Friday at about 6, have dinner, then go to the club Yang had picked out. This left Saturday and Sunday free to focus on training with their teams, in an attempt to placate them. The group had also decided to rent out a motel room for the night, since they were planning to stay out later than 10, when the airships stopped going to Beacon. Their teammates hadn't been happy with that, but to be fair most of them weren't happy with the entire ordeal.

"Alright, let's go have a night to remember."

* * *

 **Hey guys, another shorter chapter this time, mainly to tie together the bigger plot points. Not my bets chapter I feel, but it does it's job.**

 **As for the errors that I mentioned last chapter, it's very unlikely they'll ever go away. Since I am writing and proofreading, it means I'm more likely to miss the mistakes since I won;t focus on each word, due to the fact I wrote them. That phrasing might not make sense, but just in general you miss more errors proofreading your own work, and I'm too lazy to be thorough enough to catch them.**

 **See you next chapter where Yang continues to be a bad influence on Jaune.**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	6. It's Working on Me

Chapter 6: It's Working on Me

"Well, here we are." The four hunters stood in front of a large grey building. If they tried, they could faintly make out the sound of music blaring inside, but the thick walls blocked most of the noise. If it weren't for that, the three members of team JNPR would never have thought it was even a club. "Let's get this started!"

The group walked into the darkened building, eyes and ears slowly becoming accustomed to their new surroundings. There was a large central dance floor, with the bar wrapping around it. It seemed like a busy night, there was almost no open space left on the first floor.

"You guys head up to the second floor and find us somewhere to sit. It'll be quieter there, plus it's more of a 'lounge' area. One of you come with me to grab the drinks." Nora volunteered, leaving the guys to locate seating for the group.

They opted for a table overlooking the dance floor below, with a small sofa on either side. They took up residence on one, and it didn't take long for the girls to return with the drinks. They placed the cocktails down and sat across from them.

"You seem to know your way around this place Yang, been here often?" Jaune inquired.

Yang shrugged "For the past little while it's been my go-to club. I used to go to Junior's, but I'm not really welcomed back anymore."

"Why?"

"Something about beating up the owner and destroying half the building. I didn't really stick around to listen to the exact details."

"You're joking."

"Nope," Yang announced proudly. "You can ask Neptune if you want proof."

The blonde knight just shook his head. "Just try not to destroy this club tonight."

"You have my word."

Jaune still looked suspicious, but decided to let it slide. "Speaking of Neptune, you should've invited him and Sun along."

"Oh, good idea. I'll send him a message now, it's still not that late." Yang pulled out her scroll and started sending the message.

In the meantime, Nora was busy trying to convince Ren to go dance with her, without much success.

"I'm sorry, but I don't dance."

"Oh don't be silly. You danced with us at the school ball."

"Yes, but I was forced into that too." The ginger girl pouted at her partner. "Maybe later Nora."

"Fine, you're boring anyways." She instead turned to the blonde beside her "Yang! Who's your crush?"

Everyone paused for a second out of surprise due to the sudden outburst. The girl in question seemed especially taken aback for a second, but quickly regained her composure.

"Nora, in the several months you've known me, have I ever had a crush?"

"Well, maybe you're just really really good at hiding it."

"Nah, I'm just a strong independent woman."

"Strong and independent I agree with," Jaune interrupted. "But the jury's still out on the woman part." His joke earned him a punch from the brawler.

"Don't lie Jauney. From the way you look at me it seems you're _very_ aware I'm a woman." Jaune blushed as the tables we're turned against him. "However, if you still need more proof…" She leaned forward to get her message across, giving Jaune a clear view of her chest.

"I-I don't think that'll be necessary," he spluttered.

"Necessary and fun are two different things. Don't you like to have fun?~"

"I-uh - well -uh..."

"Why don't Jaune and I go get another round of drinks," Ren stepped in to spare his leader from embarrassing himself any further. "What does everyone want?"

"I'll take another Strawberry Sunrise myself. Nora?"

"Ooh, I'll try one of those!"

Ren nodded in confirmation. "And which way to the bar?" After getting directions from Yang, he and Jaune headed to grab the drinks. As they walked, the green-clad boy decided to question his teammate.

"So what's going on between you and Yang?"

The sudden comment took Jaune by surprise. Even more so because it was said so calmly. "What are you talking about?"

"She's always liked to tease you. But now you two seem a lot more... comfortable together."

"We've just become better friends is all." The blonde didn't sound sure of himself. "We we're forced to spend the whole weekend together."

"Jaune."

"Yes?"

"Are we bros?"

"...Yes?"

"So you can tell me if something's going on."

Sighing, Jaune realized it wouldn't hurt to tell his friend the situation. "Look man, I don't know. During the mission, stuff happened and we ended up sharing a sleeping bag." Ren looked at his leader, eyebrows raised. "No! Not like that! Hers just got torn up, so we shared. But when we woke up, Yang had more or less draped herself over me. It wasn't purposeful, we were asleep, but, it's been weird since then. At first it was like, really awkward. But then we seemed to put it past us, since we had another night sharing. But since then… man , I don't know. It seems like I'm getting confusing signals."

Ren nodded to show he understood. "So what do you want?"

"I...Look, if she asked me out, I'd definitely say yes. But I don't know how she feels. I don't know how _I_ feel."

Ren once again nodded. "I meant what you did you want to drink." He gestured to the bar next to them.

"Oh," was all Jaune could say. "I, um, I'll just have a beer I guess?I don't know this stuff" Once they had all the drinks in hand, the boys started heading back to their table. "Hey Ren? Thanks for listening. It was good to get this off my chest."

Ren smiled at the blonde next to him. "Anytime. And for what it's worth, you could do much worse."

They reunited back with the girls, handing out the drinks. As Jaune took a sip of his beer, he couldn't help but flinch a bit. Having just come off of whatever cocktail Yang had bought for the first round, his current drink seemed bitter and tasteless. Looking around, Jaune realized his reaction had not gone unnoticed by his friends, who all watched on, amused.

"Should you just stick to the girly drinks from now on Jauney?" Yang taunted. Jaune just shot her a dirty look in response, which seemed to amuse her even more. "Anyways, Neptune responded while you were gone. The rest of his and Sun's team arrived the other day, so they're all going for a guys night out."

"Sounds fun for them, almost wish we'd done one of those." When Yang looked at him quizzically, he decided to clarify his statement. "If it was a guys night out, you wouldn't be here."

Yang snorted, looking unimpressed. "Don't lie Vomit-Boy, you love having me here." Jaune just rolled his eyes and took another sip of his drink.

For the next little while, the friends passed the night in the same way, sitting around, exchanging banter, generally just relaxing. It was a nice change of pace from the action packed Beacon for all of them. They didn't talk about anything important, no White Fang, no Vytal festival, no school. And it was the most fun they had had for quite a while. After everyone had finished their third drink, Nora had finally managed to convince Ren to go dancing, leaving the two blondes by themselves at the table.

"Can you pick them out down there?"

"Yep. Surprisingly, no one seems that willing to be near Nora on the dance floor." Yang laughed at this comment, and decided to move to sit next to Jaune. "You know, it really is a shame that none of the others decided to come along in the end. I think we all needed this." He gestured all around them.

"You mean everyone _except_ my sister, right?"

"Of course!" The knight was quick to agree under the threatening stare.

"Well, I partly agree. I think everyone would have liked this for sure. But going in a small group is better. With seven of eight people, it gets a bit crowded anyways. Four people is good. We have four people teams, for example. And I swear our school only has four teachers. Besides," Yang shifted closer. "This way we get to spend more time together."

Jaune leaned back, relaxing. "Ya, I guess you're right." The pair sat in silence for a while, taking in each other's presence. Even in the loud, busy atmosphere of the nightclub, they were able to tune out everything around them. They might have been there for a few minutes, maybe upwards of thirty. However, it was eventually Yang who broke the silence.

"Wanna dance?"

Jaune looked at blonde pressed against his side, taking a while to react after sitting in silence for so long. "Sure, why not? We are at a club after all."

Smiling, the pair made their way down to the dance floor in the center of the building. Surprisingly, Nora and Ren seemed to have disappeared, but the blondes shrugged it off. They knew how to take care of themselves. Or at least Ren did.

They didn't let that stop them for long, and soon they joined the large mass of people swaying to the music. As they got into the rhythm, it became clear that Jaune was no rookie, moving in time with the music, Yang barely keeping pace.

"I saw you were good at the school dance, but you seriously know how to move Jaune!" Yang practically had to yell to be heard over the music coming from all around them.

"Thanks! Turns out it's a lot easier when you don't have to wear a dress."

"Shame, I thought the dress suited you well." The two shared a laugh at this. "You know, I'm surprised you don't go dancing more often."

Jaune shot her a questioning look. "Why?"

"Think of all the girls you could pull in with these moves!"

Jaune was skeptical "You really think so?"

"I mean they're working on me."

"Really?" Suddenly, Jaunes hand shot out and caught Yang's, pulling her closer as they danced. Caught off guard, the brawler couldn't help but laugh at the cheesy tactic, but went along with it nonetheless. The pair danced along to each song as it came along, some fast, some slower, some just outright odd. However, the dance floor fun could not last forever, and eventually Jaune felt the energy leaving his legs and he now had to try to keep up with his dance partner.

"Ok, I think that's enough for now." He said, his fatigue starting to show. "Why don't we go find the others?"

Yang rolled her eyes, hiding her disappointment at the fact they were stopping. "Fine, but let it be known I won."

"Won what? I didn't even realize we were competing."

"It's always a competition Jauney" Yang responded lightheartedly. "And I don't lose."

When the pair arrived at their table, they were greeted by the sight of Ren and Nora relaxing in the seats. "Hey, where did you guys disappear to earlier?" Their teammate asked. "We went down to dance and you were nowhere to be seen."

The guilt was visible on Nora's face as she raced to answer. "Nowhere!" Realizing the suspicious nature of her outburst, the valkyrie slowed herself down. "I mean, I danced a bit too hard and needed to step outside to cool off. Ya, that's it." The last part said inaudibly to the blonde duo.

Jaune looked to Ren for confirmation, receiving a small nod. His face gave nothing away. "Oooo-kay, well it seems to be getting a bit late, and we still need to get to our motel. You guys good to go?"

"Wait!" The ginger girl blurted out. "I haven't bought everyone a round of drinks yet, and I'll feel bad if I don't. It only seems fair."

The remaining teens looked at each other, slightly surprised, but none of them were complaining. It was Yang who eventually responded. "Alright, sounds good enough. One more round on Nora!"

"Great!" Nora quickly stood up, and was about to head towards the bar when she seemed to have a second thought."Hey Jaune, pick a number. One, two or three?"

The blonde was caught off guard by the oddness of the question. "Uhh… I don't know? Two?"

"Alrighty then!" And with that she was gone, disappearing down the stairs towards the bar. As she left, the remaining hunters found themselves looking at each other for answers no one had. And not for the first time that night.

"Ren, you know her best. Any ideas?" The ninja simply shook his head. "Great."

It was with timid anticipation that the group waited for their fourth member to return. Luckily, or soon to be unluckily, she didn't keep them waiting for long. Soon, they could see her practically bouncing up the stairs, carrying some sort of platter. As she got closer, they began to make out what she was carrying. Jaune and Ren's hearts immediately sank. When the platter was set on the table between them, their suspicions were confirmed. Eight small glasses filled with some clear liquid sat on it. Two each.

"Alright! Who's ready for some shots?"

* * *

 **I have to say, the situation seems to be escalating. This was one of the more fun chapters to write for sure though. And there's at least one more chapter of shenanigans ahead.**

 **If anyone seems to think the character in this chapter were a bit off, do remember they already had 2-3 drinks, and even though it won't be knocking anyone out, they will be feeling the effects, especially since for most of them it's the first time drinking.**

 **Anyone else worried how all this will culminate? I would be, if I didn't already know!**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	7. After We've Had A Few

Chapter 7: After We've Had A Few

"Alright! Who's ready for some shots?"

Jaune and Ren's faces were plastered with a look that would be best described as fear. Just five minutes ago they thought they were going to be done for the night. Yang, on the other hand, seemed pleasantly surprised by Nora's decision.

"A girl after my own heart right here," the brawler announced, give Nora a pat on the back. Seeing the worried looks on the guys faces, Yang decided some motivation was in order. "Ah c'mon guys, it's the end of the night, let's just have a bit more fun. Besides, I know what I'm doing, we'll all be fine."

The boys of team JNPR still looked hesitant, but picked up the mini glasses nonetheless. "We're trusting you Yang, so you better be right."

"Pshh, when haven't I been right?"

"Landing strategy?"

"Hey, we landed fine. Now shut up and get ready to drink."

Jaune raised his eyebrow at his fellow blonde, but toasted along with the rest of the group. "To a night off, then." Three voices echoed the statement around him, and the teens all tipped their shots back in synchronization.

Jaune immediately doubled forward as the horrid liquid assaulted his tongue and burned his throat. He thought he had an idea of how it would feel, but man had Jaune underestimated how vile it would be. He starting coughing, gagging at the taste, even as his throat felt like it was being corroded away. There wasn't even anything on hand to chase it down with.

As the knight slowly recovered, he looked around to see he wasn't the only with an adverse opinion of the shot they had just had. Ren was taking deep breaths in an attempt to cool his throat, and Nora was still recovering from her own coughing fit. Even Yang sat with a strong grimace on her face, waiting for everyone else to be recovered enough.

"Ok, I'm fine with never doing that again." Jaune's voice sounded hoarse even to himself.

"Bad luck Jauney. If you remember, you chose two when asked." Yang motioned towards the four untouched glasses still sitting on the table in front of them. A groan escaped the lips of not just Jaune, but Ren as well.

"One more guys, then we're heading out. Besides, surely you don't want to be out-drunk by a pair of girls, do you?" The gibe was childish, and under normal circumstances Jaune would have known better than to think he could out-drink the blonde brawler. However, in this slightly inebriated state, the taunt was enough to get Jaune to pick up that last drink.

"You wish. C'mon, let's count this down!" everybody followed Jaunes lead, picking up their own glasses. A slight smile even managed to grace Ren's lips at his leader's enthusiasm. "Ok, all together now!"

"Three!" The group's cheers echoed.

"Two!"

"One!"

At once, four shot glasses tipped back, their contents disappearing into the respective owners throats. This time, Jaune was prepared for the liquor, not allowing it to sit in his mouth but instead making sure it went down in one quick motion. It still burned the whole way down, but this time Jaune was able to subdue his reaction, his displeasure hidden except for a small flinch and a grimace. Similarly, Ren and Nora had also managed to take this shot better, while Yang reacted the same way as last time, obviously having already gone through this particular learning experience.

As the group made to stand, Jaune felt his legs weaken under the weight. Not enough to make him stumble, but the it was clear he was getting affected by his drinking physically. Unluckily, Jaune wasn't the only one to notice his momentary weakness. His fellow blonde smirked at his predicament. "Oh Jauney, drink too much? That's a shame." Her face quickly changed to a pensive look, and then added as an afterthought, "Probably doesn't help that the shots haven't fully kicked in yet."

 _Fuuuuuu-_ Jaune's self-pity was halted as he was slapped on the back, nearly being knocked over by the force behind it.

"Ah, don't worry Jaune-Jaune. We'll all be fine." Judging by the slight slur in Nora's voice as she comforted the blonde, Jaune doubted they'd all be fine. However, he wisely chose to not point this out to the ginger girl, instead making his way towards the exit along with the rest.

The fresh air was welcome has the group stepped out of the doorways, revitalizing their spirits and clearing their heads. It was a nice night out, the shattered moon clearly visible above. Cool enough that Jaune appreciated his sweater, but not cold enough to make the others uncomfortable. Especially with the alcohol warming their blood.

"Let's go, the motel is only about fifteen minutes away." As the brawler began to lead the way, Jaune stopped to check the time for the first time since entering the club. He was surprised to discover that three hours had passed between entering and exiting the building, meaning it was now gone eleven. Not late, for sure, but it certainly hadn't felt like that much time had passed.

Realizing he was falling behind, Jaune put on a quick jog to catch up. He was surprised by the amount of effort he had to put in for the simple action. Again, not enough to be an issue, but enough to be noticeable. He caught up in time to hear the end of some disagreement between Ren and Nora.

"Nora, Ursa don't grow to be 20 feet tall." Ren sighed as they listened to another one of the valkyries stories.

"Shhh Renny, you wouldn't know. You weren't there." Her drunkenness was apparent as she hushed her partner.

"I was, Nora. You already mentioned me in your story. Several times." The laughter from the pair of blondes that followed that comment seemed to take the wind out of Nora's sails. She pouted and turned away from the group, the disappointment apparent on her face. But while sober Ren might have dismissed this as typical Nora antics, apparently drunk Ren was a bit more emotional. "Aww, no. I'm sorry Nora. I think I remember the 20 foot Ursa now."

The ginger girl visibly perked up, and immediately jumped back into the middle of her heroic tale. Jaune groaned and turned to the only sane conversation left to have.

"So Yang, did you enjoy tonight?"

"So far, it's been pretty great. Company could be better though," she added with a wink.

"Hey, we we're the only ones willing to come with you." The brawler simply shrugged. "Also, what did you mean by 'so far'? We're heading back now, aren't we?"

"Oh Jauney, Jauney, Jauney." Her head swung from side to side. "The night is still young! Name it and we shall do it!"

"Well, honestly I'm beginning to get worn out. And I think Nora might be in the same boat." A glance over showed the usually energetic girl leaning on Ren for support, arm draped over his shoulder and their bodies pressed together. "I'm not sure we have the energy for any more adventures."

"You know, I think I can help with that relaxation… Willing to try something new?"

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "What did you have in mind?"

Instead of responding, Yang simply reached into her purse, pulling out a small plastic bag. She shook it once, letting Jaune see the dry green substance within.

"Uh, Yang, are you sure?"

"I won't pressure you into it, don't worry. But I always find that it's good for unwinding at the end of the night."

Jaune was aware he should probably say no. It was illegal, he was already drunk, and it was something he had no experience with. However, the irrational part of him was all for it, whispering in his mind about how it would be fun, how it would calm him down, and that there wouldn't be any long-term problems. What drove him over the edge was something else, however.

 _I'll do it for Yang. I trust her. I want her to have fun._ Had Jaune been sober, he might have been confused about why it was the thought of Yang that caused him to make the decision, but the knight was not mentally aware enough for that.

"I'll give it a try." As he stated his agreement, a large, genuine smile crossed Yang's face. She promptly turned to the other pair and called out.

"Hey, you guys wanna join us?" As they turned to see what the brawler meant, Yang mimed bringing something up to her lips, and then pointed at the bag.

Apparently this was all Nora needed, as she immediately seemed revived, jumping up and down at the prospect of this new experience. Her partner, on the other hand, had no such reaction.

"I'm giving this one a pass." Yang gave him a thumbs up, showing her understanding. "Please, be careful. I'm not sure everyone is thinking well." His eyes very clearly hovered over the ginger girl, who was oblivious to the conversation. "Just meet me at the room, I'll go ahead and pick up our key. I'm probably the best one to interact with people."

By the slight wobble in Ren's gait as he walked away, Jaune wasn't sure about the ninja's last statement. But he wasn't about to argue, he knew he was probably at least as bad. The three remaining teens made their way to a dark corner of the motel parking lot, and Yang proceeded to also produce a lighter and wooden pipe from her purse.

She held up the pipe, measuring some of the drug into the end. "It's nice, isn't it?" Jaune realized Yang was talking about the piece of wood in her hand. "Much easier to use than other methods. I 'got' this one from my uncle. I'm still not sure if he knows it's missing." She put the pipe between her lips, flicking on the lighter. The blonde seemed to have no coordination issues, despite the fact she would, at least slightly, be feeling the affects of their drinks. She took a deep breath, and made sure to exhale away from the group. "Alright, who next?"

Nora immediately volunteered, placing the pipe at her mouth. "Here, I'll light it for you. Just take a small amount as your new at this. We don't have any water to soothe your throat if you breathe in too much." Yang lit the lighter once again. "If you can, try to breathe all the way into your lungs." Despite her state, the valkyrie managed to follow Yang's instructions well enough, and passed the pipe along to Jaune.

"Here, I'll light it for you as well. Same goes for you as Nora." Nervously, the boy held the wood to his lips, breathing in as he saw the fire from the lighter. "Slowly now, be careful." Once he felt he had taken enough, Jaune let the pipe leave him mouth, and exhaled smoke into the night. He didn't mind the heat that stayed in mouth, or the taste. It wasn't pleasant, but it also wasn't bad enough for him to care. Looking at his fellow blonde, Jaune saw another smile playing across her lips. "All good?" She continued when he nodded. "You won't feel right away. Just like drinking, you will slowly start to feel it more. But don't worry, we aren't going to have much."

After that, the pipe made another round through the group, and then another after the brawler refilled it. Each time, Jaune felt a bit more confident, taking a deeper breath and trying to follow Yang's advice. After he and Nora had each had three hits, she elected to finish off the pipe, and then stowed everything back away.

"C'mon, Ren should be in the room by now."

* * *

When they reached the correct door, Yang was happy to see Ren ready to let them all in. The room was pretty nice, they had gotten lucky. Two single beds sat near the back of the room, with a TV next to them, and a sofa which would pull out into a bed. A door at the back would be the bathroom. She walked inside, flopping herself down on the sofa. Nora immediately shuffled over to one of the beds, falling face-first into its welcoming embrace. "I sent a message to our teams letting them know we made it to the motel." Even though he seemed to be thinking fine, Yang noticed the exhaustion that was practically radiating from the ninja.

"Alright, thanks Ren. So what's the plans for sleeping arrangements?" Jaune's voice cut across the room.

"We should let Yang and Nora have the actual beds, and we can share the sofa-bed. I don't think she'll be moving anytime soon anyways." Ren nodded his head towards his partner. Jaune voiced his agreement of the plan, apparently having no qualms sharing a bed with another man.

"Well I'm not going to sleep quite yet, so feel free to use my bed for now." Yang entered the conversation.

"Alright thanks." The black-haired boy moved to lie on the bed, leaving Jaune to sit down next to her on the sofa. Despite the fact it was easily large enough for the two of them, Yang still felt Jaune's weight as he pushed himself against her side. She leaned back, her body relaxing with the help of the small high.

"Thank you, Yang." His words were quiet, barely above a whisper so that only she could hear him. "Thank you for this."

"Jaune, as I said, the night is still young." Even as she said this, she had to stifle back a yawn, much to her fellow blondes amusement.

"I don't think so anymore. Nora's already asleep, and Ren looks like he's soon to follow. So unless you have any ideas for something to do just the two of us, I think we're done for."

Yang lent more of her weight against the presence beside her, enjoying the warmth it provided. "You know, there's plenty of stuff we can do just the two of us."

"Oh? Do you have anything in mind?"

The brawler turned to face him, and slowly pushed Jaune down so that he was lying down beneath her. Leaning in close, she whispered into his ear, barely audible. "I have one of two ideas."

She felt his body relax below her, shifting himself so that lilac eyes met blue. "Then feel free to share."

The first contact of their lips was soft, each party gingerly testing the waters. Each enjoying the warm sensation they received from the other. Slowly, the nervousness faded away into passion, as their touches grew more firm, pushing harder against each other. The inexperience didn't matter, neither caring for it in the jumble of emotions that swept over them in their inebriated state. Yang could feel strong hands wound around the small of her back, pushing her deeper into the kiss.

She was the first to break away, faintly gasping for air. She sat up slightly, making to remove Jaunes hoodie, which he quickly helped with. The sweater was thrown aside, the pair suddenly plunging back into each others embrace. Without the bulky outer layer, Yang's hand were free to rove all over Jaunes body, taking every inch she could as their lips battled each other. Her own body shuddered as warm fingers gently ran down her lower back, biting his lip as she enjoyed the sensation of his hands on her bare skin.

Jaune, in turn, pushed his tongue into her mouth, asking permission to explore. Her lips parted, more than happy to oblige. Their bodies were tightly pressed against each other, leaving Yang almost no space to explore his form, feeling firm muscle as she felt up his torso, shoulders, back, whatever she could reach. She could feel his hands exploring her as well, moving along her back, to her hips and waist. She started as she felt his fingers gently tangle through her hair, pushing their faces closer. But she didn't react. Lost in the passion of the moment, his touch just felt so good.

Which is why it felt so wrong as his hands slowly pushed her up.

As their eyes met again, she noted the concern on the blonde boys face. "What about the others, Ren and Nora? What will they think?"

Her finger moved to lips. "They're asleep, they won't mind. Now please don't keep me waiting." Yang couldn't care less if he heard the desperation in her voice. She longed for the warmth of his body against hers again, the passion for each others touch. Luckily, he didn't keep her waiting, her pleas enough to overcome his worries. She dove back into their kiss, no hesitation from either as their tongues fought for dominance. They were oblivious to the world around them, the only thing mattering was the pleasant feeling of hands and lips feeling whatever they could. Yang took in a sharp breath as his lips pressed down hard into the crook of her neck, being replaced with a moan as he planted another kiss on her, then another, and another.

It would have been hard to say how long they lay in each others embrace, both simply taking in the comfort of the other. For both it was new, the ardor they felt for each other as they became a tangle of limbs on the sofa.

They were so wrapped up in each other that both failed to notice the brief flash of light from Nora's scroll as she groggily tried to keep her eyes open. "I bet everyone will love this photo." She hit send.

* * *

 **Well then, this might throw a wrench into the mix.**

 **This one is a longer chapter, as I didn't want to take 2 chapters to finish the group's outing. For anyone who was worried about the drug use, or excited for that matter, this is about the extent of it (as of now). It was never something big or important to the story, but just kinda natural given the scenario, and adds a bit more to your reading pleasure.**

 **As I was writing this, I actually laughed at how similar the scenario was to my first time smoking. It was also in a dark parking lot, using a pipe, while staying at a hotel with some friends.**

 **On a different note, I have really been enjoying writing this story. It's a good escape for me. I actually have 2 ideas for other stories floating around in my head, and I'll probably ask your opinions on them in a chapter or two when their more developed. Right now, I actually want to know peoples thoughts on the inclusion of drugs. As I said, it isn't a large part, and as someone with a bit of experience, I had no problems including it. However, if it makes people uncomfortable or similar, you can let me know. I can easily alter the story to change or remove that section, and the plot won't be affected.**

 **For now, happy reading**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	8. Apparently Ignorance isn't Bliss

Chapter 8: Apparently Ignorance isn't Bliss

Yang was the first to wake up the next morning, her heading aching slightly as she pushed herself off the body below her. She stood up slowly, trying to avoid any sudden movements that might cause unnecessary pain. Quietly so as to not wake anyone, she made her way to the bathroom and started running a stepped into the warm water, letting it cascade over her body and soothe her.

 _Wait, was there a body under me?_

Her mind finally caught up to her senses, and memories of what happened last night flooded back to her. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall of the shower. _Fuck._ She could remember how it had happened. How at the club he had been fun and confident. How they'd danced, how he had teased her back, joking around with the group. How happy he had been to just have fun for a night, and the smile on his face, so relaxed. A feeling they didn't get much anymore. How on the couch his body had felt comforting next to her, the warmth of his hands and the softness of his lips…

 _No. Stop._ It had been a mistake. A stupid, drunken mistake, and it wouldn't happen again. She was Yang Xiao-Long, and she didn't hook up with people after a night of drinking. Anyways, no one would have to know, she wouldn't tell anybody. The only problem there would be Jaune. But if asked, she could just say she didn't remember it, or she didn't know what she was doing, or something. Just let him know it meant nothing.

Hell, he'd been pretty out of it. He might not even remember it himself.

Eventually Yang finished her shower, stepping out to dry herself off. Sadly, she hadn't brought a change of clothes, so yesterdays would have to do until they got back to Beacon. Once changed, she stopped before the door, taking a moment to compose herself. _Just act normal, maybe we can ignore the issue altogether._ She walked out into the main room. The others were finally up, however given how they looked, some would have preferred not to be. Nora slouched into the now-vacant bathroom, only groaning in reply to Yang's greeting. Jaune was still sitting on the sofa, rubbing his temples in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain. Ren sat next to him, faring slightly better. He was on his scroll, probably sending a message to their teammates. He looked up and nodded at her, and seemed to be about to go back to his scroll thinking twice.

"Hey Yang, have you checked your scroll yet this morning?"

"No, why? Did our teammates need something?"

He waved away her worry. "No, nothing like that. Nora just sent something to everyone last night, including all of us. I would suggest not opening it, it's only some gibberish and random photos. Same goes for you Jaune, no need to open it." The blonde looked up in acknowledgement, returning to his attempts to rid himself of his headache.

Sure enough, when Yang retrieved her scroll from her purse, there was a blinking message from Nora. Ignoring it for now, she quickly typed up something to her teammates.

' _Hey, we're just getting up now. Hopefully we'll be back at Beacon in the next couple hours. Still a shame you guys didn't join us, invites open for another time (except you Rubes!)'_

She hit send, splaying herself on the bed Nora had vacated. "Hey, how much of last night do you guys remember?"

Ren was the first to answer. "I remember it all fine. However, I am sorry for falling asleep in your bed last night, I did not realize I was so tired."

"No problem. It's a bit fuzzy for me. I remember getting back to the motel room, but after that… not so much." Jaune looked up at this, and guilt seemed to wash over his face before he was able to hide it. _Shit, he remembers._ "Anyways," she continued on, "I'm pretty sure nothing really happened once we got here anyways, so it doesn't matter too much."Ren looked between the pair of blondes, but said nothing.

Finally, Nora finished up in the shower, allowing the boys of team JNPR to quickly wash themselves down before they all set off for the docks to catch an airship. The walk back was pretty subdued, no one really feeling the need to start a conversation. Yang assumed for them it was the hangover. She on the other hand, wanted to avoid talking to Jaune lest he brought up last night. The good thing was, since she had already claimed, indirectly, to not remember it, the knight looked like he'd let the whole thing go.

He also looked ready to let everything in his stomach go the entire ride back to Beacon. Yang guessed motion sickness and hangover combined would be less than ideal.

As they stepped off the airship back at Beacon, three hunters in training made their way to their rooms, while one went to find the nearest place to throw up.

"Hey guys, I'm back!" Yang announced as she entered team RWBY's dorm, exhibiting more energy than she really felt. In return, she was greeted with three pairs of staring eyes. "What? Not happy to have me back?"

"It's not that. We just didn't expect you to be so energetic after last night." The heiress was the first to respond.

"It did seem as though you had an _action-packed_ night." Her partner smirked at Yang from her position on her bed.

Ruby simply kept staring at her sister.

"Guys. I can handle some drinks. And we didn't even do anything to wild. I don't know where you're getting these ideas from."

Weiss flinched. "You… Have you opened that message from Nora?"

"No…" A warning went off in the back of Yang's mind. "Ren said it was just some gibberish and to ignore it."

"Ah…"

"Well…"

"You see…"

"You should probably open it." Weiss and Blake took turns speaking. The most worrying was still that Ruby had yet to even open her mouth. Despite that, Yang took out her scroll and made to open Nora's message, noting that it was actually just a single picture attachment. _Damnit Ren._

Still, she opened the picture. And stared. And stared a bit longer. And then stared at the recipients of the picture, which was every member of teams RWBY and JNPR. _Fuck._

Her team was awaiting her response, but Yang didn't even know what to say. Her eyes were glued to her scroll, which displayed the accusing picture.

Her laying atop Jaune, pushing fiercely into each other and joined by the lips. One of Jaune's hands rested on her back, while the other was tangled in her hair, pressing their heads closer. Her own hands were hidden beneath his shirt. It painted an incriminating, and less than flattering image. _An accurate one though,_ Yang's mind pointed out. _That is exactly what it looked like, what it felt like. And didn't you feel it~._ She quickly tuned out her own traitorous thoughts. Finally peeling her gaze away from the image, she looked up and saw her team still waiting on her explanation. They were waiting for her to make the first move.

So she made the first move, promptly turning and marching out the door.

* * *

Jaune wasn't having the best of days. First had been the splitting headache upon waking up. Then the memories of what had happened last night. _Then_ the memories and what he and Yang had done last night. And then the vomit-filled airship ride home.

One of those things was slightly worse than the others.

He had been planning on trying to talk to Yang about it when the two of them were alone, maybe separate from Nora and Ren and figure everything out. But then she had said how she didn't even remember anything in the motel room, and that was even worse. If making out with a girl who is too drunk to even remember it taking advantage of someone, Jaune didn't know what was.

 _You could just ignore the problem,_ his mind suggested. _No one else needs to know._ And that was it, wasn't it? No one else _did_ know. It wouldn't make him feel any better, but it meant that nobody would get wrapped up in pointless drama, or risk friendships. Jaune made up his mind. It would be his secret burden.

It was upon making this decision that Jaune was finally found, sitting by himself in the gardens.

"Hey, you okay?" Ren's voice interrupted the blonde's thoughts. "You never came back to the room."

"Huh? Sorry Ren. Just thinking. I messed up, but I'll be okay."

"Is this about last night?"

"Yea,but don't worry about it."

"Is it about what happened between you and Yang?"

That got a reaction out of Jaune. He jumped, before narrowing his eyes at his teammate. "How in the hell do you know about that?"

The ninja coughed and looked away.

"Ren…"

"Do you remember that message from Nora I told you not to open?"

"Yea, I still haven't opened it."

"It's actually a picture of you and Yang making out fiercely on the sofa."

Like a band-aid: quick and painful. Jaune stood there, mouth agape. He blinked and shook his head. "Sorry, I must have misheard you. Can you repeat that?"

"You can check your scroll."

Sure enough, Jaune pulled out his scroll and opened the picture Nora had sent. And sure enough, it was him and Yang, lips locked on the couch of the motel. A groan escaped his lips. "Why me?"

"Probably because you were the only one to drunkenly hook up with Yang." Jaune's head snapped to look at Ren, who managed to keep a deadpan face.

He groaned again. "And this was sent to everyone?"

"Everyone on teams JNPR and RWBY, yes."

"Great. What am I supposed to do?"

"I think you guys look cute together!"

"Gah! Nora!" Jaune startled as the valkyrie jumped out of the bushes."What're you doing there!?"

"Eavesdropping."

Jaune's face dropped into his hands. "Have you guys gone to see Pyrrha yet?"

"I did!" Nora announced, before adding in a more hushed tone "She didn't seem very happy."

"Really? Oh gods. Was it bad Ren?" Ren coughed into his fist in response.

"Renny's also hiding from her. She's not happy with him either since he was the chaperone."

Jaune suddenly perked up "Yes! I can blame it all on Ren! The perfect scapegoat!"

"I don't know, I think Renny looks more like a sloth than a goat."

Ren cut in before he could be insulted further "I am neither a goat or a sloth. And I am willing to take the fall with Pyrrha for you, Jaune. The problem for you will be dealing with Yang. You won't be able to run away from this problem."

"I don't know, it seems to be working well for her." Three heads turned to follow Yang, storming away while her teammates desperately tried to keep up.

"Regardless," Ren continued after the scene passed, "I still think you should talk to her, otherwise it will only get worse."

Jaune sighed. "I know, I know. But maybe not right now." He added upon hearing commotion from the direction team RWBY disappeared in.

"Maybe not right now." Ren smiled.

* * *

Yang collapsed onto her bed, spent physically and emotionally. She had finally managed to shake her team, and beat a hasty retreat back to their dorm. She couldn't deal with them right now. She hadn't figured anything out for herself, how was she going to explain it to her friends. That was why she was so relieved to have finally lost them all.

Or so she had assumed.

"You can't run forever Yang." The blonde jumped at the voice that sounded from underneath her.

"Blake?! What !? How?!" She spared a glance at the door, only to see the dresser was still positioned in front of it, where she had placed it earlier.

"Window." Oh ya. Cat ninja. Thats right.

With a huff, Yang stood up and moved to unblock the doorway, only for a hand to snatch her wrist.

"Talk to me, Yang. Why are you running away?" The brawler was ready to pull her wrist back to leave again, but she stopped. The look in Blake's eyes, how she seemed to be so distressed. Instead, Yang sigh and sat down, pulling her partner next to her. She was being stupid. Of all the things she done, all the things they'd faced, it was a bit of high-school drama that had her running away? She could face this.

"I'm sorry Blake. I'm just… confused is all. I wanted some time to come to my own conclusions."

"And that's fine. But don't take it out on is. We weren't going to laugh at you, or judge you."

Yang wrapped an arm around her partner. "I know. I know."

The faunus turned to look at Yang. "So tell me what's wrong. Why are you running away from this? Either something more comes off this or it doesn't. Jaune's a good guy, he'll understand your choice."

"Honestly? It's not him I'm worried about." Yang sighed. "We have a good thing going, our group. I'm worried to break it up. It could get pretty awkward if things don't work out. And if they do, there's Pyrrha. Hell, even Ruby hasn't stopped staring at me oddly since I got back. It just seems easier to hope things go back to normal."

"Don't underestimate your friends, Yang. Jaune, Pyrrha, neither of them want to break apart our teams, and if anything happens they'll work to overcome that. And Ruby's your sister, for gods sake."

"Heh, you're right kitty-kat. You should do this advice thing more often."

"I'm not really an advice-giving person."

"But you're willing to find and help me?"

"Because I love you."

Yang's head snapped up to her partner, only to see a shit-eating grin on her face. "Not cool, Blake. Already going through too much emotionally." Blake only laughed harder at this, much to Yang's chagrin. To the faunus' credit, she didn't even flinch under the stern gaze.

The brawler simply shook her head. "Regardless, I should go talk to Ruby, see what's bothering her about this."

"Or, you could go talk to Jaune and get this fixed first."

"But…"

" _Yang."_

"Fine." The blonde huffed. "I'll go get this sorted, just to get you off my back." She stood and made towards the door.

"Actually," Blake interrupted her leaving, "I might suggest leaving through the window. Ruby and Weiss are waiting out there to ambush you in case you ran away from me."

* * *

 **The ending's getting close, can you sense it? I can, and since I'm the writer it's probably true. This was never meant to be a long story, or really a very original one. It was more of a test run for me, practice my writing, get some feedback and see what people thought. And I'm very happy with how much encouragement I've gotten, I'm surprised at how many people enjoyed this.**

 **Regardless, with only one or two chapters left here, it begs the question of what I'll do next. I can either keep to shorter stories, which would be about this length, and I can churn out in 1-2 months. Or I could focus on a larger, deeper story, with actual themes and plots instead of just some humorous romance like this.**

 **I also am not entirely sure what to write about. I would like to do something focused on Ren, but currently lack any substantial ideas. Probably the most fleshed out thought I have is a story that follows Jane, Nora and Ren after the fall of Beacon, one where they don't team up with Ruby. Or, I could write a story about some OC team. I actually have their characters, weapons and semblances mostly thought up, and quite like them myself. However, I know most people, myself included, aren't huge fans of OC characters/teams, not to mention it would harder to write.**

 **I still have a little while to think on this, and this story still needs to see it's end! So until next time, happy reading**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


	9. It Always Ends Well

Chapter 9: It Always Ends Well

Jaune was still sitting in the garden when Yang approached him. Ren and Nora had left some time ago at Jaune's request for some peace and quiet, some time to collect his thoughts. The tranquil area seemed to help clear his mind, and he figured he needed his mind as clear as it could for what was coming.

Now it seemed that time was up, as the figure of Yang loomed over him.

Jaune sighed. "Are we doing this now?"

The brawler nodded in confirmation. "We're doing this now."

"I guess I should explain what happened last night then. After we got to the motel room, the two of us-"

"Jaune, I know what happened last night." Yang interrupted. "I didn't actually forget it. I just… I was going to try and pretend it didn't happen." His fellow blonde sat down next to him on the bench, both staring into empty space.

"And then Nora happened?"

"And then Nora happened." Yang chuckled, before turning back to a more serious tone. "I just thought that if I ignored what happened, everything would continue on as normal."

"You know, I thought the same. When you said you didn't remember, my plan was to pretend nothing had happened as well. But now everyone knows, for better or for worse."

The blondes sat in silence for a few more moments, until Jaune finally broke the silence. "So what are we going to do? What does this mean for us?"

"I don't know. Surprisingly, I don't actually have much experience with this."

"Fixing things after a drunk make-out session?"

"Yea, that."

"Well, neither do I, so I guess we're on even footing." Jaune paused quickly, psyching himself up for what he was going to say next. "But Yang? I'm willing to give this a go."

The brawler shot Jaune a questioning glance. "What?"

"Us. I'm willing to give us a chance, if you want."

"Jaune, I don't know…"

The blonde managed to hide his disappointment well. "If you don't want to it's fine. I can understand me like that."

"No!" The sudden outburst taking both the speaker and listener by surprise. "I mean, Jaune, you're a great guy. I think anyone would be happy to have you."

"Don't worry, I know." Jaunes joking confidence quickly disappeared, changing back to fit the serious mood. "But Yang, I don't want you to be pressured into this at all. I can take it if you don't want us to be together."

"Honestly, do you feel this way about me?"

"Yes." Jaune didn't seem to hesitate in his response. "And I'm surprised that everyone else doesn't. Just look at yourself Yang, I couldn't ask for more. I could try to describe it if you want, but I doubt I need to."

"No, you don't need to tell me how perfect I am." Yang waved him off, earning a nervous laugh from both of them.

"But I get that you might not feel the same about me. I'm not some fragile flower, I can take some hits."

"Jaune, really, it's not you. It's me." As Yang took a break to gather her thoughts more, she could've sworn she heard her fellow blonde murmur 'cliché much' under his breath. "I like you Jaune, for real. And not just because you're the only guy in our group-"

"Wait, what about Ren?"

Yang just ignored him and continued on "But I'm not sure if I want to be in a relationship right now. We have so many things to focus on, so much going on…"

"If that's your choice, that's fine. But there are plenty of people at Beacon who manage to keep a relationship going strong."

"And I don't want this to cause a rift between our teams, to upset people."

Jaune looked puzzled. "Have you not talked to your team yet?"

"Only Blake."

"And what did she say?"

Yang paused for a moment, knowing exactly what Jaune was getting at. "She said that none of them want us to break apart, and not to underestimate them." She responded with a sigh.

"Yang, our friends will be fine. Ren and Nora are already ok, and Ren said he'd talk to Pyrrha about it. You're worried because all you want is the best for our friends, but don't forget; they want the best for us too." Yang felt Jaunes arm wrap around her shoulders, not in a romantic way, but how someone would comfort a friend.

"It's just… There are so many things I'm not sure about. How Pyrrha will react, how Ruby will react. Do you know that ever since we got back Ruby hasn't been able to keep herself from staring at me?"

"She's probably just jealous of how well you scored." Jaune joked.

"But that's exactly it! You were her first friend here, and you were only ever nice to all of us. It's not impossible she has a crush on you."

Jaune lightly touched his fellow blonde's chin, guiding her head so that they could look into each other's eyes. "Yang, I can't help but notice you seem to be grasping at straws, like you're looking for an excuse. If you don't want us to be together, that's fine. But please, don't dance around that fact. Just tell it to me how it is?"

"How it is?!" Yang seemed to finally break, all the emotion and worry that had been dammed up finally bursting forth in a powerful torrent. "I'm scared, Jaune. There are really only three ways a relationship will end. We stay together forever, we break up, or one of us dies. And all three terrify me." Yang felt herself shaking slightly from her outburst. "No one wants to go through a breakup. At best, we remain awkward acquaintances and go about our lives. At worst, it wrecks not only our friendship, but everyone's around us. But if we don't? I'm not looking into the future like that. I don't want to think about engagement, or marriage, children." Yang took a moment to breathe deeply, composing herself slightly. "But the last one is the worst. What if we do get together, and we do become really close, and then one of us dies? It's not impossible, hell with our lives it's almost expected for people to die. I don't want to have to deal with that pain, and I don't want you to have to deal with it either."

Taken aback by the fierceness of Yang's words, Jaune didn't know what to say. So he blinked once, slowly. And then blinked again. And then promptly burst out into laughter.

His response earned him a punch to the arm. "I'm fucking serious here, Jaune!"

The boy in question managed to reign in his amusement long enough to answer. "I know, I know. And I know you meant every single word you said. But that's an oddly logical way to look at the world, way too logical in fact."

"Why? What does that even mean?"

"Yang, I want you to think back. To before any of this happened, before that ill-fated mission, landing strategy included. When we went to get a nice midnight snack." He paused, to make sure the brawler was following along. Once he was certain, he continued. "You asked me, despite us not even being that close, why I thought you had become a hunter. And I gave reasons, what I honestly thought given my limited experience with you. You even seemed to take comfort in the answers, and I thought I had gotten a pretty good guess. But I was wrong."

Yang practically recoiled in shock, before going on the offensive. "Wait. So are you saying that I was just a shallow person looking for thrills? That I'm just taking the place of someone more deserving?!"

"No, not at all. And your passion about that subject is proof enough. What I'm saying is it doesn't matter. Who cares about why you once chose to come here? You're here now, you're trying your best to get better, and you care about the people around. But you're here because this is where your emotions led you. You followed your gut all the way to Beacon to become a hunter. There might be a logical reason, there might not. Who cares?" He paused to let out another bark of laughter. "This is the exact same. Don't use logic to determine your emotions, Yang. They aren't meant to be logical. Tell me, how did you feel that night in the motel?"

"I felt… nice." Yang described, for lack of a better word. "My gut was just saying to go for it, and I did."

Jaune smirked. "There it is. Don't let logic ruin your emotions, Yang, especially in matters of the heart. Last question: What is your gut telling you right now?"

"To kiss you, hard."

"Exactly, to give this a go- wait, what?" Jaune didn't get to saying anything more before Yang's lips collided with his.

* * *

As Yang and Jaunes confrontation took a more 'physical' turn, the remaining members of team RWBY slowly backed away from their vantage point. They hadn't been able to hear anything the blondes had said, but the ending made it clear enough how the situation had solved.

"I guess they really are going to date then, aren't they?" Weiss sighed, addressing her teammates.

"Seems like it," Blake confirmed for the heiress. "I don't know why you sound so disappointed, this pretty much guarantees he won't ask you out again."

"He hasn't asked me out since before the dance anyways. I'm just not sure if they're really the best match."

"Either way, they're going to try, and we're going to respect that. Right, Ruby?"

The young girl was caught off guard by being addressed so suddenly. "Wha-? Why are you asking me?"

"Because you haven't stopped moping since they got back, that's why." Ruby's partner snapped at her. "Surely this doesn't upset you that much, does it?"

Ruby shuffled back and forth. "No… Of course not…"

Weiss sighed, her expression softening. "Look, Ruby. If something really is upsetting you, just tell us."

"It's fine...it's stupid anyways." Ruby murmured, barely audible. However, when she looked up at her teammates, Ruby realized that her answer apparently wasn't good enough, if the looks Blake and Weiss we're giving their leader was anything to go off of. Ruby decided she might need to elaborate a bit more. "It's just… Jaune's always been so nice and caring towards me, and he was my first friend at Beacon, and I guess I just kinda hoped…" her voice trailed off at the end, but it was enough for the pair before her.

"Ruby, it's not stupid. People have developed feelings for less reason than that. Besides, this sounds more like a young crush than anything."

The red-clad girl looked like she was about to puff up indignantly at her partner's words, before quickly faltering. "Yeah, your probably right. Probably doesn't help that he's the only guy we hang out with around here."

"Wait, what about Ren?"

If anyone was going to answer that question, they were quickly cut off by some rustling behind the group, and the appearance of the remaining members of team JNPR.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying, and for the record, I think Weiss is right." Pyrrha greeted, though her words her aimed at Ruby. "Don't feel stupid about who you fall for, even if it doesn't work out."

"You listening to your own advice here, Pyrrha?" Blake questioned, asking what they were all thinking.

"I think I am." The spartan spared a wistful look over to the couple, just a short distance away. "I always knew there was a chance he would fall for someone else if I didn't ask him. I can't blame him for that. Besides he's happy like this, that much is obvious."

"Think you'll be okay?"

"I think I'll be disappointed, maybe for a while. But I'll get over it. It's not like he's being taken away from me, I'll still be his partner and his best friend. And in the same way, he'll still be your friend, Ruby. And Yang will still be your sister."

Ruby nodded in understanding. "You're right Pyr, you're right. Look on the bright side, this is the first guy both of us really got close to. There's still a whole world out there for us to get to know. For all we know, we might like the second guy even more."

Ren coughed awkwardly behind them, but went ignored.

"Of course, Ruby. But for know, let us leave the two of them. We have a long ways ahead of us, and we'll need all the comfort we can get."

* * *

 **And there it is, the finale to my first story, Where We Seek Comfort. I know many of you are disappointed this is ending so soon, but this was never to be a long fic, as I mentioned. It is also partially that I am not the best at endings, hehe. However, I do plan on writing many more stories. Speaking of…**

 **The reason it took me awhile to get this final chapter out is so that I could post it at the same time as the first chapter of my new fic, 'Brocode: Beacon'! It's another humor story, focusing on Jaune and Ren (not in a romantic way). Right now, the first chapter, more of a prologue, is up and ready to read!**

 **Speaking of other stories, last chapter when I brought up my plans for the future, most people stated they would prefer to stay away from OC and AU stories, which I can respect. However, it is fairly difficult to avoid such things if you want a long-running story instead of these shorter ones. So I decided on a compromise; I'll try to keep two stories running at once. One larger project, the other being more like this and my new Brocode story: short and funny. What this means is that while each story will be updated less frequently, I should be able to get more stories out overall, as it helps avoid me burning myself out and writer's block. The large project I will start on right now will be the team JNPR one (post season 3) that I mentioned before.**

 **But back to this story, I really hope you enjoyed it, since you did read it all the way through apparently (if not, what are you doing here?!) Hopefully you will also enjoy my future stories, just like this one. As always, leave any advice or comments you have for me, about my story, my writing ability, or anything you what to! I hope to see you in the future! For now, see you later.**

 **-Dunkacoke-**


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